It’s like a sad Dilbert cartoon. A leader sitting in his office shooting email after email off to people he can see through the glass window of his office. It’s sadder when he has set up a culture on his team that he expects an immediate response to his emails.

Is this a Dilbert cartoon on leadership? Unfortunately it’s not. Over the last few years training and developing frontline leaders from multiple companies and industries, I hear tales about this form of leadership. But it is not really leadership. It is management.

Email Hell

The Pointy Haired Manager

If you read Dilbert in the morning newspaper, you know how funny and accurate those cartoons can be. The absurdity of the workplace Dilbert works in is all too familiar to many of us. That is what makes it funny.

The character that makes me laugh the most is The Pointy Haired Manager. He embodies everything that is wrong with leadership in business. I think the cartoonist could do a week long series on leadership by email.

The Pointy Haired Manager would see email as the most expedient way to communicate with the people on his team. He would use email for everything and avoid real interaction with his people.

The Pointy Haired Manager would send long emails with a request for more information buried in the body somewhere. He would also send vague, one sentence emails that confuses others as he demands immediate answers.

As he sits and waits for responses, the poor people on the receiving end of those emails are dropping more important work to answer an inane question or dig for some reports The Pointy Haired Manager has requested.

His people call or email other people asking for help. Or they leave their desks to find someone in the building who has the answer to The Pointy Haired Manager’s question.

Meanwhile, The Pointy Haired Manager taps his fingers on his desk waiting for the reply to his question and wonders why the productivity of his team is waning. He contemplates an addition to the computer system that will help him keep track of Social Media use by his team.

The Pointy Haired Manager is so sure that Social Media is the issue. He sends an email to one of his people asking for a report on which social media tracking systems are the best. He wants the answer by close of business today.

Email Can Kill Productivity

I have heard real life stories similar to the scenarios I just joked about. Email has truly become a crutch for leaders. That crutch has also become a drain on productivity.

In this month’s INC Magazine an article describes the time consumed by email in the workplace. It points out that people spend almost 30% of their work hours managing email!

When I discuss Priority Management I often discuss checking email only three times a day. (Aside: It’s not Time Management people need help with, it is Priority Management.) When I suggest this, I am often met by skeptics.

What do I hear? And what do I say?

There is no way. My boss wants answers within an hour.

• Call your boss or go to his office and get clarity. Tell him what you are working on and ask him if his request is more important. Often, he may not be aware of what he is distracting you from.
• Ask for future guidelines to help you prioritize his request. Sometimes it is a lack of clarity that makes all his requests sound urgent.

What if it is something important?

• There is a difference between urgent and important. Few things are truly urgent and important.  Most people tell you something is urgent because of their lack of planning.
• If something is life or limb threatening, that is urgent and important. In those cases, an email is truly an absurd way to get results. 
• Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen if I missed an email.”  Rarely will it come to that.

It doesn’t take long to respond to one email.

• A recent study discussed in the Wall Street Journal found that when someone read an email while working on another task, it took an average 20 minutes for that person to return to the same level of productivity they were enjoying before the email.

That last fact made me reevaluate how often I just “pop on email” to check. If I check my email five times a day, that is more than an hour and half of lost productivity.

A Leader’s Response

Set Different Expectations

Tell your people that you will call if it is truly urgent and important. Therefore, they do not need to respond immediately to you, and they should not expect an immediate response from others either.

If it is a customer email, make it clear to customers they will get a response by close of business the same day or first thing in the morning if their email arrives after a certain time.  If they need quicker service, tell them they are welcome to call.

Get Away From The Computer

Step away from the computer and go talk to people. If people are in remote locations, make a phone call. Communication through email is good for data and pure information.  Anything more than that causes problems.

More emails are misinterpreted than any other communication method except texting. Leaders need to communicate with clarity. Use the most effective mode possible.

The Bottom Line:

Is email in control of you or are you in control of email? Email is part of our lives and can be very useful. But just like many good things, if it is overdone or if it controls us, it is harmful.

Leaders, you can change the grip email has on your team and improve their productivity. For all of us, we can all seize control and discipline our response to email.

I like Dilbert and The Pointy Haired Manager. But just like I don’t ever want to see my private life displayed on the front page of the newspaper, I don’t want to see my work life displayed in the cartoon section either.

I must gain control of my email habits.  It is up to me and no one else.  Thanks to Dilbert for reminding me that I do not want to be controlled by email.  Do you?

Question:

Who is in control of your time? Email or you?