Lack of email protocol fuels stress in the workplace and means staff do not filter or organise their emails in the correct way, wasting as much as an hour a day, according to a study by communications consultancy Expert Messaging.
The study monitored nearly 4,000 people from 150 UK-based organisations over an 18-month period.
It found that 77% of workers check their emails within five minutes of turning their computer on and hoard an average of 2,769 emails in their inbox.
The study coincides with the launch of Expert Messaging’s Email Charter. The charter details how people can improve productivity, reduce stress and communicate more clearly through email.
The report also found that 72% of users spend at least one hour per day on email on average, while 39% spend two or more hours. Users taking part in the study received an average of 34 emails a day — 47% of which do not help them do their job.
Bob Hallewell, MD, Expert Messaging, said: “Many people spend up to half of their working day chained to email, there is no doubt it has become a main way for businesses to communicate. Paradoxically organisations pay almost no attention or provide any guidance on how it should be used.”
The Charter aims to ensure that users give more thought to the way in which they communicate via email. It encourages people to think about the format, tone of voice and speed of reply when using email. The company claims that workers who adhere to the Charter can save around 40 minutes a day.
Hallewell said: “Email is here to stay and is an essential business tool which we rely on more and more; either we learn to manage it, or increasingly it will manage us. We have designed the charter to help people achieve this aim. It appears to be basic common sense but our research has demonstrated that common sense often goes out the window when we’re using email.”
