(3 of 3)
If E-mail plugs brains together, it suffers from linking the muddled with the magnificent, banding employees to a crescendoing chatter in which the number of messages increases as the quality of each declines--a world where there are 300 E-mails and nothing's on. Consider this sampling of American company E-mail:
"Sue, You are my sunshine." "The Thompsons just had an 8 lb. baby boy." "Bob, please disregard that last E-mail. I sent it to you by mistake." "2 Tickets to da Bulls game." "Ten ways faxing is like having sex." "Seize this Rare Marketing Opportunity." "I thought I would CC you on this project too."
Ah, those CCs. When Charles Wang lifted the lid on his system at Computer Associates, corporate paranoia gushed out in torrents as employees blanketed the company with CCs. No decision was too small, no change too minor not to notify everyone remotely involved. "It had turned into the biggest cover-your-ass thing you could imagine," says Wang. "People would send these things just so they could say, 'But I copied you on that.'" Now companies such as SmithKline Beecham are tightening the spigot by encouraging employees to limit the number of CCs they send. At Ernst & Young, systemwide messages (to everyone) are verboten.
In an era in which management gurus strive to push decision making down the chain, E-mail has made it easier for middle managers to shun responsibility by bucking decisions up the ladder. A worker who would shy from seeking an appointment with the boss to resolve an issue often bats out a "What do you think?" message on the most trivial of matters.
In some spots a counterrevolution has begun. "People became so overloaded they didn't use it," says Silicon Valley consultant Anita Rosen about the E-mail system at computer-software-maker Oracle, where she worked for years. "Out of 300 E-mails, 80% were CCs. So maybe what you actually need to know are 40 E-mails a day, or an hour's work." At the White House, E-mail is so overloaded that many senior staff members refuse to use it.
Sure, there are geeks like Bill Gates, who loves to respond to several hundred of the E-mails sent him daily, but Gibbs of Epoch Networks is less happy dipping into his system until 1 in the morning. "I have been at the company two months and received 6,500 E-mails," he sighs.
Perhaps Gates has spotted an opportunity here. Microsoft is hoping to cash in--again--by selling "intelligent agents" that will help sort all forms of digital clutter, including E-mail. Joe's a bore, so relegate his notes to the bottom of the list. Shoot to the top anything from the boss. Primitive versions, called bozo filters, are already available to help deflect some of the more predictable detritus by sender and topic.
To avoid sending the wrong message, consultants suggest four rules: Never discuss bad news, never criticize and never discuss personnel issues over E-mail. And if there's a chance what you say could be taken the wrong way, walk down the hall to discuss it in person or pick up the phone. "Think before you write," says Argenti. "The most important thing to know is what not to write." For American companies stretching to keep pace with the E-mail revolution, that advice may be the best message of all. CC it to everyone.