Why would you do that to email????

[Runs For Fun]

I came across this email client in an article and I just can't. Why? WHY?

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WHY??

Why would you ruin email like that? Email is not a chat. It was never intended to be a chat, and shouldn't be a chat! This makes me irrationally angry! Maybe I'm just getting old with a "get off my lawn" attitude. At the risk of making a bad hot take, I feel like this is some Gen-Z crap.

Leave email alone!

 

[bigmcguire]

I'm surprised how much of business today is moving towards the always on, expecting an instant response Slack/Teams/Discord type of atmosphere. It's addictive I guess. Sure is hard to concentrate and focus while watching several Microsoft Teams windows.

 

[sgtaylor5]

I was on The Snug Slack channel just long enough to learn "what happened" and then I was gone and Slack uninstalled...

 

[tobefirst]

I strongly dislike email and try to do everything I can to limit it wherever I can. At work, we are transitioning to a project management program, but not everyone is on it – or uses it regularly – so a lot of stuff gets funneled through email. At home there are all sorts of things that come through email that just get deleted straight away or sit in my inbox for way too long. I'd like better solutions for my issues, but haven't found them yet. But, yeah, this ain't it.

 

[theSeb]

I like Slack / similar and I like email. They have different purposes and I use them very differently. Slack is brilliant for communicating with "teams" when you need to get work done remotely. It's amazing what you can achieve just over Slack when working with a dedicated and high performing bunch of individuals, despite never meeting some of them. Email has its own uses. Trying to combine the two seems stupid.

 

[Runs For Fun]

I like Slack / similar and I like email. They have different purposes and I use them very differently. Slack is brilliant for communicating with "teams" when you need to get work done remotely. It's amazing what you can achieve just over Slack when working with a dedicated and high performing bunch of individuals, despite never meeting some of them. Email has its own uses. Trying to combine the two seems stupid.

My thoughts exactly!

 

[lizkat]

No matter which mode of interaction is involved, the norms of response time to work-related communications seem crazy to me. Just because messages can travel around the world in a second or two ---and around the clock, seven days a week--- doesn't mean people can or should have to or even should respond instantly.

The send button is usually pretty close to hand if we're reading messages, but perhaps it should be farther from one's mind. The brain can get used to anything, including absurd demands on its capabilities. There can seem precious little time left for actual thinking on the job any more, thanks to the ever-rising rate and number of communications per project per day.​

​

And yet we try to fit it all in before shutting the lights on a workday, or else we may despair at the task and throw dozens, hundreds of emails into the trash half-read and so unanswered, only to discover that they have been or else will be sent again, possibly inside of ten minutes...​

The intrusion of work on family and private time is inexcusable (and unhealthy) even if some employees don't seem to mind. No wonder France has passed a Right to Disconnect law. They should do it in more countries!

 

[sgtaylor5]

No matter which mode of interaction is involved, the norms of response time to work-related communications seem crazy to me. Just because messages can travel around the world in a second or two ---and around the clock, seven days a week--- doesn't mean people can or should have to or even should respond instantly.

The send button is usually pretty close to hand if we're reading messages, but perhaps it should be farther from one's mind. The brain can get used to anything, including absurd demands on its capabilities. There can seem precious little time left for actual thinking on the job any more, thanks to the ever-rising rate and number of communications per project per day.​

​

And yet we try to fit it all in before shutting the lights on a workday, or else we may despair at the task and throw dozens, hundreds of emails into the trash half-read and so unanswered, only to discover that they have been or else will be sent again, possibly inside of ten minutes...​

The intrusion of work on family and private time is inexcusable (and unhealthy) even if some employees don't seem to mind. No wonder France has passed a Right to Disconnect law. They should do it in more countries!

Google My Business is the worst; if you don't respond immediately, you're penalized. I have to use it, because the young folks won't read newspapers and Google is all they know, so I have to have a presence there. But, I refuse to pay Google for an ad. They already have enough money.

At least, they added the option to get a text when someone asks you a question there.

 

[MissNomer]

Google My Business is the worst; if you don't respond immediately, you're penalized. I have to use it, because the young folks won't read newspapers and Google is all they know, so I have to have a presence there. But, I refuse to pay Google for an ad. They already have enough money.

At least, they added the option to get a text when someone asks you a question there.

I try to be responsive when it makes sense, but sometimes unless a Server is on fire, emails and chats are just going to go unanswered because I have more important things to do.

I ended up facilitating this with our folks on Slack by adding a "Backgrounding" status that folks could use to show they were available for major issues but otherwise were heads down. Been quite popular but surprisingly not overused.