Italy: Company trials email-free working to cut stress

[hunter]

An Italian company has told staff to refrain from sending any internal emails for a week in an effort to reduce stress levels.

Home textiles company Gabel, based in the northern Como region, commissioned an expert to interview its employees about what their main concerns were at work, the local La Provincia di Como website reports. Many said that managing the huge volume of internal correspondence was a burden during the working day. That prompted the company's management to propose a solution, which - somewhat ironically - was sent to all staff in an email.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-34778213

I think this is a wonderful idea.

[Travis_0004]

1. I would hate that

Perhaps some junk email should be eliminated, but I use email to cover my ass on a lot of things. Also, I would much rather have an email than a voice message. I can keep the email up and organized, and when the task is complete, delete the email.

There have been times that I have pulled up an email one year old proving my side of the story when a problem comes up. A voice mail or a note would have been long deleted. Thankfully my email server is more reliable that the IRS.

[Kilgore]

2. Excuse me while I mimeograph this memo

Think I will keep the Email.

[Skittles]

3. I think anyone who clicks REPLY TO ALL should need to fill out a form

yes indeed

[WillowTree]

4. Such a thing would literally kill one of my co-workers.

I've been working on a project with her since 10-30 and in that time, the project e-mail folder has amassed in excess of 450 e-mails. She can't talk to anyone about anything. She just sends a blizzard of e-mails. She copies everyone involved in any way with the project on all e-mails that she sends or replies to whether they are involved in the matter at hand or not. She sits right in front of me but can't turn around and just ask me the simplest thing. Always an e-mail, with cc to everyone else in the world.

I want to break her fingers.