Respondents to a recent survey report that 34% of the internal
business e-mail they receive is unnecessary. Gartner, the
researchers behind the survey, are calling this e-mail
"occupational spam" and advise that managers take proactive steps
to reduce it.
"Employees are e-mailing their co-workers in higher frequencies
in an effort to be helpful and more communicative," said Maurene
Caplan Grey of Gartner. "In reality, they are cluttering e-mail
in-boxes, filling up servers and sapping productivity with the
volume of these messages. In a slowing economy, where businesses
are looking for ways to cut costs and increase productivity, simply
cutting out unnecessary e-mail will have an immediate impact."
The Gartner survey, which posed a range of questions to workers
on their use of e-mail and instant messaging, also found that
employees spend an average of 49 minutes per day managing e-mail
and that 24% spend more than an hour per day on this activity.
