How We’re Working Isn’t Working

My latest post is now on Wired. In it, I discuss e-mail and our overreliance upon it.

Here’s an excerpt:

It’s easy to blame software applications for exacerbating business communication. For instance, Microsoft PowerPoint often takes a bad rap, but it’s a perfectly serviceable application. In fact, it is my presentation tool of choice. (I find its Presentation View to be exceptionally useful.) As much as we may like to criticize it, PowerPoint does not automatically generate dozens of inscrutable slides and force its users to read off of them. The problem lies in how people use it. Prezi, Keynote, and other presentation applications may offer different bells and whistles, but don’t change badly designed slides.

Email’s Cross-Purposes

We have long since solved e-mail’s nascent problems: reliability, dependability, and interoperability. None of which alters the fact that e-mail remains a fundamentally limited medium, and sending more messages only exacerbates its limitations. Most germane here, an increase in the number of e-mails often enhances the extent to which employees feel overwhelmed. Employees frequently use their inboxes as catchalls for absolutely everything work-related and even some non-work purposes.

To read the whole thing, click here.

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