Year: 2001
Type: other
Abstract: This experience report outlines the value of measuring the communication processes through electronic\nmonitoring and is a follow up to the paper presented at the EASE 2001 conference last year. The use of\nemail by employees at the Danwood Group was studied and it was found that the interrupt effect from\nemails was non-trivial. The common reaction to the arrival of an email is to react almost as quickly as\nresponding to telephone calls. This means the interrupt effect is comparable with that of a telephone\ncall. The recovery time from an email interruption was found to be significantly less than the published\nrecovery time for telephone calls. It is to be concluded, therefore, that while email is still less disruptive\nthan the telephone, the way the majority of users handle their incoming email has been shown to give\nfar more interruption than expected.\nThrough analysing the data captured, the authors have been able to create a set of recommended\nguidelines for email usage. The guidelines will increase employee efficiency by reducing the\nprominence of interruptions, restricting the use of email-to-all messages, setting up the email\napplication to display three lines of the email and to check for email less frequently. It is recommended\nthat training should be given to staff on how to use email more effectively to increase employee\neffectiveness.
Authors: Thomas Jackson, Ray Dawson, Darren Wilson
Institution: Loughborough University
Language: English
Subfield: Information Systems and Management
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2116215616