Yep, we call them dailies, short for daily standup meetings.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
People who don't acknowledge important emails/messages . . .
- Thread starter usagora
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
- Status
I totally agree with you.
I honestly think that with a short meeting or two things can be done way more efficiently, contrary to the current model which is useless meeting on top of six million emails a day.
On a slightly different but related note, one big issue with emails - and I am guilty as charged of this - is that whenever a question or a small thing pops up in mind we tend to write an email about it because we assume that it has a low cost attached to it; after all, it’s just a question, right? The truth is that the cost is much higher than what we might think. Lately I have been trying to collect questions - or points I want to make - on a digital notebook and then I ask all of them at once either in a meeting or via phone. If that can’t happen for some reason, then an email is written but at that point it contains more than a “quick question”.
I'd just add that some questions are very hard to communicate in writing - or even on the phone. I work in a visual medium and there is just some stuff I have to show people Screenshots via email do work but they often come out of context.
I wish I could handle questions as you do but often my products are time sensitive. But if I could, I'd borrow that from you.
I think that the problems with email are twofold:
1): This is a (relatively) new form of communication, and thus, the etiquette of emails, manners, and accompanying protocols on how to deal with it in a way that is timely, courteous, and yet doesn't leave you swamped, have yet to develop, and,
2): The convenience of the format (and also, the desire on the part of some to cover their rear end) means that people write and send too many emails.
1): This is a (relatively) new form of communication, and thus, the etiquette of emails, manners, and accompanying protocols on how to deal with it in a way that is timely, courteous, and yet doesn't leave you swamped, have yet to develop, and,
2): The convenience of the format (and also, the desire on the part of some to cover their rear end) means that people write and send too many emails.
Back in the early days of the internet there was something called "Netiquette," which was very useful because it reminded people of how the way in which they were using email, instant messaging, Usenet, web-based discussion forums, etc. could and did affect others. This was back in the time of bandwidth being a major consideration for most people in homes and businesses and when many were still using dialup services to get online. People on Usenet didn't hesitate to chide someone when a participant wrote a one-word or one-sentence comment which didn't really add anything to a discussion, or quoted someone else's post in its entirely before adding their own brief comment in response to only one tiny segment of the previous post. Administrators and Moderators in the early days of web-based discussion forums also would remind members to be mindful of Netiquette.
Somehow, somewhere along the way Netiquette has definitely fallen by the wayside as more and more people have gotten online, bandwidth isn't an issue any more, and there are multiple devices with which to get online in the first place. This has absolutely been a major factor in the continuous flowing of information and communication that is readily available at our fingertips: too easy now to pull out one's iPhone and fire off a fast text to a family member or a friend asking a question or passing on a silly joke.....not to mention sharing via text or on Instagram or FB meaningless photos of one's breakfast, lunch or dinner while sitting at a meal.
I find texts more annoying than emails, as there is something so instantaneous and compelling about that text plopping into my device(s) along with the awareness of the other person being on the other end, there in real time so that I feel as though I must respond immediately, whether or not it is actually something all that important. Emails come in, I read them and if I've got the time and am in the mood to respond immediately, fine, but if not they can usually wait. Of course I am retired so am not dealing with work-related emails, which makes a huge difference! Anything really urgent, of course, should be conveyed either in a text or a phone call.
Somehow, somewhere along the way Netiquette has definitely fallen by the wayside as more and more people have gotten online, bandwidth isn't an issue any more, and there are multiple devices with which to get online in the first place. This has absolutely been a major factor in the continuous flowing of information and communication that is readily available at our fingertips: too easy now to pull out one's iPhone and fire off a fast text to a family member or a friend asking a question or passing on a silly joke.....not to mention sharing via text or on Instagram or FB meaningless photos of one's breakfast, lunch or dinner while sitting at a meal.
I find texts more annoying than emails, as there is something so instantaneous and compelling about that text plopping into my device(s) along with the awareness of the other person being on the other end, there in real time so that I feel as though I must respond immediately, whether or not it is actually something all that important. Emails come in, I read them and if I've got the time and am in the mood to respond immediately, fine, but if not they can usually wait. Of course I am retired so am not dealing with work-related emails, which makes a huge difference! Anything really urgent, of course, should be conveyed either in a text or a phone call.
Last edited:
During my working day I spend most of the day on the phone talking to colleagues, dealing with messages and emails from them and suppliers of course. It keeps me really busy. Then in the evening I tend to do more focused work.
Email is great, but knowing how to deal with it is the key. I get too many requests from my company to deal with this or that. The real key with any task (including email) is knowing;
Email is great, but knowing how to deal with it is the key. I get too many requests from my company to deal with this or that. The real key with any task (including email) is knowing;
- What I need to deal with immediately
- What I need to deal with at some point today
- What I need to deal with at some point
- What I can choose to ignore and not have to action
Yes, that's where we've adopted it from though we're not full-blown Agile.
These people drive me crazy. I work in healthcare, so if I (or someone else) sends out an important email, which usually would involve some major policy/procedure change, I think it’s entirely reasonable to expect a confirmation. What’s worse is when you ask specifically for a confirmation and it’s not received. Either way, you then have to go through and figure out who has responded and who has not.
Maybe someone should create a plug in where people can confirm they have read the email.
Maybe someone should create a plug in where people can confirm they have read the email.
You could still disable it as the receiver. Like when people ask for a read receipt. Outlook asks your permission to send the read receipt. I always decline.
I only response to emails which are directed at me, if I am only in copy then I am going to fly through the email but I will not see it as my responsibility unless there is an "@ xy" in the text. If something is really urgent, people will text me on Slack or call me on teams (which barely happens to be honest because I am mostly just doing work between me and the CMO and I have a 1:1 with him by teams 3 times per week to give updates)
Yeah that’s a good idea, I suppose unfortunately opening the email and clicking the receipt notification doesn’t necessarily mean they read the email.
I don’t know what the solution is other than for people to do their job and read their emails.
Just a few weeks ago I sent out an email to my staff about a change in how a certain toxicology report would be changing due to a different test methodology being implemented and how to interpret the result. Given this is a routine test it’s pretty important topic.
Naturally, multiple people days later ask me days later what the new report means and why it was different than before, making me want to drive a stake into my brain. Of course two weeks later someone asks me me the same thing, making me wonder what they’ve been doing with the test results they’ve received for the past 2 weeks. And although these reports are reviewed by at least 2 people, it forced us to review all the reports involving that test provided to that staff. I suppose that forces them to learn their lesson the hard way.
For many of us, we simply don't have the time. I get dozens of messages a day through different platforms (sometimes hundreds) and there's just not enough time to respond to them all. Everyone thinks their email is important when in reality, most of the time it's not, it's simply informative. Not to mention responding also opens up a two way dialog that most of the time I just don't have time to get caught up in.
There's this idea as of late that everyone needs to be 100% accessible all the time and that's just horrible for mental health. I make sure everyone knows I'm not accessible 24/7, I check emails at work once an hour, I check messages on other platforms either once a day or once a week and I can't feel bad about it. Those constant barrage of messages are mentally draining and my mental health comes first.
There's this idea as of late that everyone needs to be 100% accessible all the time and that's just horrible for mental health. I make sure everyone knows I'm not accessible 24/7, I check emails at work once an hour, I check messages on other platforms either once a day or once a week and I can't feel bad about it. Those constant barrage of messages are mentally draining and my mental health comes first.
I think that companies need to be realistic about emails and have some protocols for sending and responding to them. I worked for a global company and the US workers used emails way too much. It was ridiculous to come back from vacation with thousands of emails to review. The German workers were much better about limiting emails. And when they were out on holiday, don’t bother emailing them as they weren’t likely to respond to them when they returned to work. They also didn’t work 10-12 hour work days when in the office. They were always all business and no chatting. They rarely worked over 8 hours. They had a much better work/life balance.
Maybe email needs to come with options - acknowledge receipt immediately, needs response, copy for your records with no action needed.
Maybe email needs to come with options - acknowledge receipt immediately, needs response, copy for your records with no action needed.
This is what is scaring me a lot about this remote work movement that is being pushed a lot lately after COVID. I honestly think that many employees don't see how important the clear division between home an workplace also creates a division in expectations and privacy norms. I do understand why people right now prefer remote work - there are indeed many advantages - but I fear that in the future companies will begin expecting more and more ("well, you can work from home right? Well, don't care if you're at dinner with your family, we need this now, you're at home, go to work"). As I mentioned, I am also VERY afraid of privacy issues.
In IBM (aka Lotus) Notes, there is the ability to do this. You can send an email/memo and add a "click here to acknowledge you read this" where one's response gets tracked in the database. Boss/sender can then verify who did/did not click. Sure, not going to guarantee anyone read it or tries to understand what was written...
Been ages, so not sure Exchange can do something like that. Would be surprised there isn't something out there to "force" people to acknowledge.
I have a German friend who was confused once about work in America. It seems that the German culture gives their employers their required time and that's it. There is zero response to email/text/any sort of communication outside of your shift - end of story. It can be a gross social error for an employer to contact you after hours and most German employers (who want to keep their employees) don't violate this.
On top of that, unlike America, you can use personal email at work and expect total privacy. It's against German law for your employer to ask any questions - even though you may be using their network.
That's probably why your experience with the German workers went the way it went.
I am fortunate that having worked mainly for small businesses my entire career this is rarely a problem. I don't/won't work weekends or before/after hours unless I choose to do so and that's rare. But I can't hide either. We have a list of jobs and there is only one person hired to work the majority of those jobs. That's me. If I put my name on the job sooner or later the sales rep and/or the boss are going to be expecting to see a proof - and with my name on the job they know who to talk to. They've also been in the business long enough to know just how much time a job should take.
Now originally I was hired with the expectation that I work in the office. I was assigned a Mac with the apps I need and that Mac was to go back and forth to work. The idea being that if an employee is ill or that something special came up the employee had their Mac and the apps they needed. So when COVID hit everyone was good.
But me and the other two designers chose not to come back to the office. And because it was proven that work still got done there was not much of an argument - although the boss grumbled a bit. Being a small company though it's highly unlikely that there is any spyware on there watching me to make sure I'm working. Of course I could be wrong but this is a company that looked at me like I'd sprouted a second head when I first asked about laptop policy (the business does not have one).
There was a point several years back that I was wishing to go back with a larger company, mainly due to my having to find my own resources and funds to do my job. Now, however, I' pretty okay with being where I'm at.
Exactly. They have an entirely different way of doing business - unlike the US companies and workers. I always got texts and calls after work hours and while on vacation. Retired now so those days are long gone for me. But recently when I went on a girls’ trip with my daughter, she got multiple calls/texts while on vacation.
The modern problem at home I finding is buying things on Amazon and then I stated getting loads of marketing material I get now! The per sites asking for an email sometimes can be a two edged sword!
Easy. All my shopping goes to a gmail account. That account is not on any of my devices. I just log on the webmail version when I need to. Other email comes to my devices. But only the important people get that.
I give sites I expect spam from (or a stream of steady email) a specific email address. While that account does have some serious stuff I use it for, I mainly expect it to handle spam. Keeps the spam away from my primary email.
That said, the account does actually have a robust spam and junk filter and a lot of that crap I just never see because of that.
- Status