Two things: first, as has already been pointed out, email creates a record and can act as a reminder. Productivity experts generally recommend the use of emails over verbal requests. Knowing that there is an electronic record that can be forwarded to the boss is a big incentive to taking timely action on requests.
Second, you were complaining that people were wasting their productivity using their smart phones. To a certain extent, they are trapped in a self-reinforcing cycle. Getting work related emails on those same phones interferes with that cycle, making it easier to break out of it. Of course, the other peer pressure tactics should continue as well. And sending an email is inefficient and cumbersome? No, sending an email is incredibly easy. And it's terribly inefficient for someone to walk up to me with a non-urgent request of some kind when I am working against deadline on a project. Managed properly, email is a tremendous productivity booster. On Apr 1, 2010, at 11:21 AM, COMPUTERGUYS-L automatic digest system wrote: > From: "phartz...@gmail.com" <phartz...@gmail.com> > Subject: Re: It's an app world, and it could swallow all computing > > On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 5:31 AM, t.piwowar <t...@tjpa.com> wrote: > >> Why don't you ask them your questions via their preferred mode of >> communication? > > Not a chance. Do you actually think that it would be preferable for > workers in close proximity to one another to use phones to communicate > with one another as opposed to merely speaking to each other? That is > the stuff of teenage lifestyles. > > Firstly, that would be terribly inefficient, much too slow and > cumbersome. Secondly, any attendant response from them would merely > be placed into a queue until such time as they finished up with > whatever personal calls, text messages, games or Facebook updates they > were involved in were completed. The "grass roots" peer pressure > approach by annoyed coworkers seems to be gaining some traction, but > from what I have been reading about this growing workplace problem, it > may not succeed. Most workplaces are finding that the only solution > is a nearly complete ban on personal communications devices. In other > words, if folks are going to act like children, then treat them like > children. > > Steve ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
