Is Email Usage on the Decline
NOTE: This article has a number of technical writing errors that I have included on purpose. I teach technical writing online and use this article with my students.
In the business world today there appears to be a growing epidemic. Where once company email servers buzzed with a non stop flow of emails that communicated updates, provided necessary direction and kept vital operations running there is a noticeable decline. Today the email volume at certain levels of business remains as high as ever but email numbers from senior management and within senior management groups have declined precipitously. Some of this is the natural result of legal exposure that the electronic documents pose but the cause behind some of the decline is very troubling according to experts.
There is a growing trend among many senior managers to decrease communication to subordinates that is likely to have a significant long term impact. The reason for this change is unclear but the fact remains that email from senior management to subordinates has reached its lowest level in years. Some employees report that they received contact via email between four and eight times per quarter in the 2002-06 reporting period. However in 2008 the assessments done by Cooper Pryce Auditing and other reputable companies confirm these findings and establish a negative trend beginning in 2007. According to some reports communications have plummeted to only one or two contacts per year. Interestingly there has been a corresponding decline in phone contact both cellular and terrestrial however those numbers are not as clear.
Anecdotal Evidence
Many workers who review the survey numbers are surprised at the level of decline but insist they are not affected by it personally. However everyone that was surveyed for this article had at least one or two cases of anecdotal evidence that supported the claim. Some employees stated that they believe it is merely the result of management being more cautious and not wanting anyone to have documentation of a decision that may go wrong. Others believe that managers are simply less inclined to work so they have little interest in responding to or initiating an email.
Solutions
Regardless of the cause it is important for employees to take some steps to protect themselves. One, employees should keep copies of emails that they send to managers for direction, approval or some question related to the employee’s work. Electronic copies of these emails can “mysteriously” disappear from the company server directly following an accusation made about a senior manager. Two, despite the lack of responses, employees should continue sending requests, documentation and other communication via email and keep copies of those documents as well. Three, experts strongly recommend that employees should sit down with their manager and talk over the concern. Sometimes the lack of email contact is simply an oversight but it could signal that there is a problem. Getting the information out in the open is the best way to get it resolved.
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