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Email Overload, New MORI Research Gives Picture
7/2/01



Information overload from email is a real and increasing phenomenon, according to new research carried out by MORI for Intraspect Software Inc. Surveying how UK managers and directors use email, the findings paint a worrying picture of this difficult modern business issue.

For many senior personnel, email is becoming an essential tool by which management information is received. One third claimed to receive a lot of decision-making information this way. At the same time, one quarter also claimed that they were not confident that email is confidential. This figure rises to one third among those managers who work in IT or telecommunications. As a general trend, the research shows that larger companies are more reliant upon email for distributing essential information than smaller ones.
Other significant survey findings on email use include the facts that:

  • One quarter of senior staff send more than 30 emails a day.
  • A further 40% send between 11 and 30 emails a day.
  • Some 55% receive more than 20 emails a day.
  • The vast majority receive more emails than they send.
  • Around one third need to share critical information with colleagues.
  • Roughly two thirds of critical information emails are stored on a PC or laptop.
  • In one third of these cases, an electronic copy is stored and also printed off.
  • One in five print off an email before deleting it.

In response to this email overload, the research-commissioning client Intraspect believes that it can offer a solution through the use of information hubs. They suggest that people-to-people collaboration can allow employees, customers, suppliers and partners to share information in common spaces, hence avoiding the need to email. Only those to whom the information is relevant should be alerted of new additions. In this respect, the solution resembles the types of intranets already employed by many larger companies. The survey was conducted by phone among 200 directors and managers between 9-18 January 2001.