In recent weeks it has become absolutely endemic that people in our company don't read emails or don't read them fully which can lead to quite a few frustrations.
It seems there's three kinds of emails that get no or very limited responses:
- Emails to a large number of recipients (= "Oh, didn't realize it was for me.")
The less personal, the less likely it is to be read by the group. Not only company wide emails, but also within our finance hierarchy in the region. If our accounting leader sends an email with info/request to everyone it's most likely to be completely ignored by at least half the folks. Which has led to our manager announcing on tele conferences that she'll send an email on day x that she requests people to read/act on.
- Emails with long texts (= "Sorry, didn't have time to read it.")
The longer the text, the less likely the mail is to be read, or read carefully. Corporate HQ likes to send out long winded emails about changes on the VP level or new business lines or upcoming changes in the organization. No one ever reads those. Similar, though, when new work instructions/procedures are sent out. Procedures/Policies are also on our intranet, but no one ever looks there, either, even if requested to do so via short email (see above). However, even three lines can be too long:
"Please send your reply to X, Y and include Excel sheet Z." Who do they send their reply to? Me.
- Emails from certain senders/with certain subjects (= "I know that this stuff is not important for me.")
Agendas for staff meetings, corporate communiqués, infos/questions/requests from our office admin team, etc.
Part of the problem is that people receive so many emails (300-500/day is not rare), that they are unable to see through it anymore except for ones from their immediate contacts and don't take the time to customize their rules to have it prioritized/pre-filtered. Another major problem is that many people who have an issue that needs solving cc people who they think should look at it, too. Afterwards, everyone just hits "reply to all".
Myself, I have gotten used to telling colleagues on my floor that I will send/forward them an email that'll need looking at if I can't talk something through with them. A few colleagues have asked I print it out instead, because it would surely get lost in their mailboxes. Besides that I try to get as much as possible solved via phone/face to face/communicator. Sometimes that's just not possible, though (people are out of office, or you need info from a few folks).
How do you cope with those problems? How do you avoid them? Any tips?
300-500 a day is insane.
Yesterday (when I was not in the office) I received 15.
Quote from: Syt on March 12, 2009, 01:32:44 PM
In recent weeks it has become absolutely endemic that people in our company don't read emails or don't read them fully which can lead to quite a few frustrations.
It seems there's three kinds of emails that get no or very limited responses:
- Emails to a large number of recipients (= "Oh, didn't realize it was for me.")
The less personal, the less likely it is to be read by the group. Not only company wide emails, but also within our finance hierarchy in the region. If our accounting leader sends an email with info/request to everyone it's most likely to be completely ignored by at least half the folks. Which has led to our manager announcing on tele conferences that she'll send an email on day x that she requests people to read/act on.
- Emails with long texts (= "Sorry, didn't have time to read it.")
The longer the text, the less likely the mail is to be read, or read carefully. Corporate HQ likes to send out long winded emails about changes on the VP level or new business lines or upcoming changes in the organization. No one ever reads those. Similar, though, when new work instructions/procedures are sent out. Procedures/Policies are also on our intranet, but no one ever looks there, either, even if requested to do so via short email (see above). However, even three lines can be too long:
"Please send your reply to X, Y and include Excel sheet Z." Who do they send their reply to? Me.
- Emails from certain senders/with certain subjects (= "I know that this stuff is not important for me.")
Agendas for staff meetings, corporate communiqués, infos/questions/requests from our office admin team, etc.
Part of the problem is that people receive so many emails (300-500/day is not rare), that they are unable to see through it anymore except for ones from their immediate contacts and don't take the time to customize their rules to have it prioritized/pre-filtered. Another major problem is that many people who have an issue that needs solving cc people who they think should look at it, too. Afterwards, everyone just hits "reply to all".
Myself, I have gotten used to telling colleagues on my floor that I will send/forward them an email that'll need looking at if I can't talk something through with them. A few colleagues have asked I print it out instead, because it would surely get lost in their mailboxes. Besides that I try to get as much as possible solved via phone/face to face/communicator. Sometimes that's just not possible, though (people are out of office, or you need info from a few folks).
How do you cope with those problems? How do you avoid them? Any tips?
I tend to avoid 95% of my emails, too. There ain't enough hours in the day.
Pro-Tip: include porn in your e-mails.
Other than putting READ THIS AND REPLY, IT IS IMPORTANT YOU BASTARDS in the subject line, there really isn't much you can do.
Quote from: Barrister on March 12, 2009, 01:34:43 PM
300-500 a day is insane.
That'd be our senior managers/VPs. They also read a lot of their emails at home, because they usually don't have time to sift through it all at work (meetings, telephone conferences etc.).
What's with the highly erotic avatar, Malthus? You call that SFW? >:(
Quote from: Cindy Brady on March 12, 2009, 01:42:55 PM
Other than putting READ THIS and REPLY, IT IS IMPORTANT YOU BASTARDS, there really isn't much you can do.
I consdier setting up personalized serial emails. I'll probably sign up for a course in Nigeria for that.
Annoyingly because we use Lotus Notes.
Gawd, I hate that thing.
Quote from: The Brain on March 12, 2009, 01:44:58 PM
What's with the highly erotic avatar, Malthus? You call that SFW? >:(
It's a 1950s coffee ad. ;D
Quote from: Malthus on March 12, 2009, 01:49:13 PM
Quote from: The Brain on March 12, 2009, 01:44:58 PM
What's with the highly erotic avatar, Malthus? You call that SFW? >:(
It's a 1950s coffee ad. ;D
I know it's been posted on Olde Languish. Doesn't make it less arousing.
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 12, 2009, 01:48:28 PM
Annoyingly because we use Lotus Notes.
We used that till 2007 or so. Oddly, since we moved to Outlook 2007 the mail traffic has grown exponentially.
I've found that, at least in my workplace, you can tell a lot about the sender from their e-mail subject line:
ALL-CAPS, TERSE = ex-military, civil service
Obvious misspelling (eg 'Has anyone lost there umbrella????') = events staff
Overuse of exclamation marks = woman
Expletive laden, lower case (eg, 'slut fuck') = my Canadian boss
Some thinly veiled sexual reference = horny ex-intelligence/military type
Without subject = someone in an actual, urgent work crisis
I usually get a mixture of shotgun blasts and FWD: HAHAHA type emails. Occasionally I get the work-related crisis. People I work with can just get up and talk to me which is the preferred manner. If I get something from another office across the street or something I'll take care of that.
I just plop most things in pertinent Folders and trash the rest. Makes me look important. 8)
I work in a newsroom and I do get between 250-300 a day. Once I get rid of the viagra and big cock ads, I'm down to about 150 a day.
I get a lot of emails from PR reps and anythign which forces me to do one of two things
1. Click on a link to find out more
or
2. Click on an attachment.
Gets deleted. Its not cause I'm worried about viruses...it's a work computer after all; it's because I don't have the time to do that. If you want to tell me something, let me read it in the view window without having to open the mail.
That's one.
Yeah. it's a nice touch if the email starts off with
Dear Mr. Josephus.
(I know there are programs now that do that). IF it fails to do that, or just says, Dear Sir/Mam also gets deleted.
probably 70 or so work related emails a day. Most are me asking for transactions to be deleted so that i can put in the correct info (fuckers on the floor).
Quote from: Warspite on March 12, 2009, 02:46:36 PM
I've found that, at least in my workplace, you can tell a lot about the sender from their e-mail subject line:
Expletive laden, lower case (eg, 'slut fuck') = my Canadian boss
fuck you
If there is an email that I absolutely need someone to respond, I give him/his secretary a call.
Another tactic I often use is "I will assume that you have no objection to whatever I am proposing if I do not hear from you by xxxxx." ;D
Quote from: Monoriu on March 13, 2009, 02:06:47 AM
If there is an email that I absolutely need someone to respond, I give him/his secretary a call.
That's something I try to avoid. Talking to someone who is in rural Eastern Europe on a cell phone reception and has a nearly unintelligeable Eastern accent on their English is an exercise in both futility and frustration. Reading their mangled English in their mails is bad enough.
Case in point:
"Dear Colleges,"
Another thing that seriosly ticks me off:
Colleagues not knowing basic functions of new software (Office 2007, Outlook etc.). Most common reply when you tell them how to do something better or easier:
"Well, I don't have time to play around with the program to find where's what."
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 05:49:28 AM
Another thing that seriosly ticks me off:
Colleagues not knowing basic functions of new software (Office 2007, Outlook etc.). Most common reply when you tell them how to do something better or easier:
"Well, I don't have time to play around with the program to find where's what."
But I don't. In this age of new paradigms, and win-win situations, I have to maximize my time to ensure possibilities for the future.
I hope Siegebreaker molests your avatar.
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 09:15:24 AM
I hope Siegebreaker molests your avatar.
Robert Reed is in line first.
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 05:49:28 AM
Another thing that seriosly ticks me off:
Colleagues not knowing basic functions of new software (Office 2007, Outlook etc.). Most common reply when you tell them how to do something better or easier:
"Well, I don't have time to play around with the program to find where's what."
Well, I have to say I don't bother with software stuff either, even though I am supposed to be in tech support. 99.9% of the functions in Word or Excel are useless/too complicated for me anyway. No point to move beyond my comfort zone. To me, software is just a tool. My boss doesn't care if I know software or not. He wants a document in front of him. As long as I know the most basic Word stuff, that's good enough for me, and for him.
Quote from: Monoriu on March 13, 2009, 10:52:48 AM
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 05:49:28 AM
Another thing that seriosly ticks me off:
Colleagues not knowing basic functions of new software (Office 2007, Outlook etc.). Most common reply when you tell them how to do something better or easier:
"Well, I don't have time to play around with the program to find where's what."
Well, I have to say I don't bother with software stuff either, even though I am supposed to be in tech support. 99.9% of the functions in Word or Excel are useless/too complicated for me anyway. No point to move beyond my comfort zone. To me, software is just a tool. My boss doesn't care if I know software or not. He wants a document in front of him. As long as I know the most basic Word stuff, that's good enough for me, and for him.
That's not true. About 60% of the functions in Excel or Word, if you knew them, would make your job much much easier.
Quote
That's not true. About 60% of the functions in Excel or Word, if you knew them, would make your job much much easier.
Say, my boss writes on a page with his handwriting, gives the page to me and wants me to type it out for him. I fail to see how any function in Word can help me. Except maybe spellcheck, which I already use.
Or, immediately after the meeting, my boss says he wants the notes of the meeting in 60 minutes and not a second less. During that 60 minutes, when I am pulling my hair off trying to figure out who said what, I am not going to be terribly receptive to suggestions about which combination of key strokes equals "paste".
We use Lotus Notes. Alll you need to do is create mailing rules that handle the traffic by transfering emails of certain types into pre-defined folders which you can empty from time to time.
G.
Control + V or Shift + Insert.
Okay, maybe not for you.
But I like how, here, we have a test software that outputs all it's results in a neat excel sheets.
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 13, 2009, 11:25:46 AM
Control + V or Shift + Insert.
Okay, maybe not for you.
But I like how, here, we have a test software that outputs all it's results in a neat excel sheets.
I go to the toolbar, find "edit", pull down the menu, and find whatever command I need.
Quote from: Grey Fox on March 13, 2009, 11:06:12 AM
That's not true. About 60% of the functions in Excel or Word, if you knew them, would make your job much much easier.
Seriously. I'd be super slow at my job if I didn't know many of them.
Quote from: Grallon on March 13, 2009, 11:25:41 AMAlll you need to do is create mailing rules that handle the traffic by transfering emails of certain types into pre-defined folders which you can empty from time to time.
I know, I do that for some categories of my incoming mails. Other than that I don't know anyone doing that, even though everyone has received a primer on those functions. I am also the only one using the calendar feature for anything other than meetings, and there's only very few using the Outlook to do list feature.
Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 11:28:01 AM
Seriously. I'd be super slow at my job if I didn't know many of them.
Let me put it this way: three people in our department know how to handle pivots in Excel. When wanting to freeze the header rows on a sheet most people choose "split screen" instead of freezing panes. Data functions or the difference between formatting numbers as text or leaving them as is are lost on most people. I will not talk about macros or functions, because no one uses them.
Bear in mind that were are the FINANCE department. Being able to create a when/if statement with three or more functions makes me practically a god among them when it comes to Excel.
Then again I notice again and again that I'm the only one regularly wondering when faced with repetitive, manual tasks if there's not a way of doing it easier or automatically.
Others mostly counter that they don't have time to bother with that and that the gain wouldnot be worth the effort.
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 12:18:16 PM
Let me put it this way: three people in our department know how to handle pivots in Excel. When wanting to freeze the header rows on a sheet most people choose "split screen" instead of freezing panes. Data functions or the difference between formatting numbers as text or leaving them as is are lost on most people. I will not talk about macros or functions, because no one uses them.
Bear in mind that were are the FINANCE department. Being able to create a when/if statement with three or more functions makes me practically a god among them when it comes to Excel.
Then again I notice again and again that I'm the only one regularly wondering when faced with repetitive, manual tasks if there's not a way of doing it easier or automatically.
Others mostly counter that they don't have time to bother with that and that the gain wouldnot be worth the effort.
How...sad. :(
Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 12:21:21 PM
How...sad. :(
Our analysts are a bit better (one is pretty sharp with Excel, but then again he's a PhD), but the accounting team is pretty hopeless and frustrating. I've reached the point where I let them fiddle with their stuff and do mine efficiently, using excess time to surf the net.
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 12:24:08 PM
Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 12:21:21 PM
How...sad. :(
Our analysts are a bit better (one is pretty sharp with Excel, but then again he's a PhD), but the accounting team is pretty hopeless and frustrating. I've reached the point where I let them fiddle with their stuff and do mine efficiently, using excess time to surf the net.
Excess time, that's what the others are afraid of. They are afraid that if they somehow come up with excess time it's either going to get them layed off or worse, more responsability.
For people like you & me, it just means we surf the web.
When I was gone for a year to play in the sandbox, the emails kept coming in, 3k+ of them by the tme I came back, including a few hundred "You mailbox is over the size limit". :D
Excel is gods gift to office workers.
Quote from: HVC on March 13, 2009, 01:32:18 PM
Excel is gods gift to office workers.
It sucks, though, when people use it only for writing lists, adding, substracting, and maybe multiplying.
Colleagues trying to reconcile Excel sheets or finding anything in them are usually helpless beyond the simple autofilter.
Quote from: HVC on March 13, 2009, 01:32:18 PM
Excel is gods gift to office workers.
Let's not be absurd. While Excel might shine brightly compared to much of the Office Suite, it is hardly the case that it doesn't have its flaws.
I received a vacation email from a government employee once.
it went something like this:
" I will be on vacation from December16 to January 16 th. On my return, I will delete ALL emails. "
I thought he was a genius.
Quote from: saskganesh on March 13, 2009, 01:53:17 PM
I received a vacation email from a government employee once.
it went something like this:
" I will be on vacation from December16 to January 16 th. On my return, I will delete ALL emails. "
I thought he was a genius.
A month-long vacation ... I guess he *must* have been a gov't employee. ;)
We don't have interwebs at my work. ???
Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 01:38:05 PM
Let's not be absurd. While Excel might shine brightly compared to much of the Office Suite, it is hardly the case that it doesn't have its flaws.
Indeed. Having said that, though, it's a damned useful tool.
Quote from: HVC on March 13, 2009, 01:32:18 PM
Excel is gods gift to office workers.
What other spreadsheet programs have you used?
Quote from: vinraith on March 13, 2009, 04:34:26 PM
What other spreadsheet programs have you used?
I can't speak for HVC, obviously, but I've used several different versions of Excel plus the spreadsheet program from OpenOffice (which is nice).
Quattro Pro for DOS :-*
Quote from: Syt on March 13, 2009, 12:18:16 PM
Quote from: garbon on March 13, 2009, 11:28:01 AM
Seriously. I'd be super slow at my job if I didn't know many of them.
Let me put it this way: three people in our department know how to handle pivots in Excel. When wanting to freeze the header rows on a sheet most people choose "split screen" instead of freezing panes. Data functions or the difference between formatting numbers as text or leaving them as is are lost on most people. I will not talk about macros or functions, because no one uses them.
Bear in mind that were are the FINANCE department. Being able to create a when/if statement with three or more functions makes me practically a god among them when it comes to Excel.
Then again I notice again and again that I'm the only one regularly wondering when faced with repetitive, manual tasks if there's not a way of doing it easier or automatically.
Others mostly counter that they don't have time to bother with that and that the gain wouldnot be worth the effort.
Too true. I find myself using scripting a lot when using Excel, even if I'm just a newbie when it comes to Office products.
For example, due to a networking catastrophe in one of our solar farms, we currently have to shift through 115k lines of power plant production data each day to check they are valid, and correct them otherwise. If we had to do it the Monoriu way it would take the whole engineering department a week. Nothing else would get done.
So I wrote, in a couple hours, a simple macro that filters all that stuff in 20 minutes. The few lines left are dealt with by just one guy in a few more minutes.
As for mail, I don't receive that much since I don't deal with the economic side of the business. Most of my mail comes from my fellow mates at the department. From time to time I get some from clients. They prefer the immediacy of the phone when pestering us.
Quote from: fahdiz on March 13, 2009, 04:44:40 PM
Quote from: vinraith on March 13, 2009, 04:34:26 PM
What other spreadsheet programs have you used?
I can't speak for HVC, obviously, but I've used several different versions of Excel plus the spreadsheet program from OpenOffice (which is nice).
I'm personally a fan of gnumeric. :wub: I also quite liked Origin, back when I had access to it. Then again, what I'm using spreadsheets for is something rather different than what your typical office worker is using them for, and tastes are bound to vary as a result. :)
Our family company receives about 10 non-penile related emails a day. I sometimes sweat that. :-[
Quote from: Iormlund on March 13, 2009, 05:15:40 PM
As for mail, I don't receive that much since I don't deal with the economic side of the business. Most of my mail comes from my fellow mates at the department. From time to time I get some from clients. They prefer the immediacy of the phone when pestering us.
About 90% of our email traffic is in house, but we're spread throughout the world, so it's our main means of communication with other offices.
Quote from: Malthus on March 13, 2009, 01:54:55 PM
Quote from: saskganesh on March 13, 2009, 01:53:17 PM
I received a vacation email from a government employee once.
it went something like this:
" I will be on vacation from December16 to January 16 th. On my return, I will delete ALL emails. "
I thought he was a genius.
A month-long vacation ... I guess he *must* have been a gov't employee. ;)
or a teacher. they get summers off.
Quote from: Legbiter on March 13, 2009, 10:37:58 PM
Our family company receives about 10 non-penile related emails a day. I sometimes sweat that. :-[
:D