What is the right way to use email?

In an email centric workplace (something far too many of us are familiar with) email gets in the way of true collaboration.  There are a few reasons why this happens. Email by it's very design allows for multiple people to communicate either in sequence or simultaneously.  The problem arises from the fact it doesn't do either well and then allows them to be used as part of the same communication.  Let's go out for lunch as an example of the failings of email.

Picture walking into your favorite lunch spot which is busy as usual.  You'd like to get a table so you go to the host or hostess and ask to be seated.  If this were email based, he/she would send an email to the entire wait staff asking who had a table available and wait for their responses.  Now there's no way to know how long this will take and when the host/hostess starts to receive back responses there's no way to know if the best response has been received or if there is a better table open.  Not an efficient way to get at seat for lunch, nor is it an efficient way to gather feedback via email.  Now just imagine what happens when one member of the wait staff replies to all the others saying their table is better (primarily because they want the tip.)

Let's take the same lunch spot but this time they've tried to improve their process.  Now rather than reaching out to everyone at once, they ask the first waiter if his table is open and if it isn't, ask him to ask the next waiter until all have had a chance to respond. All those answers are sent back to the hostess for review before determining which table is available for seating.  Also not an efficient method for seating.  I'm sure you've already imagined the scenario where the request stops cold because one waiter doesn't pass it along to the next. The number of scenarios where email falls over itself go on and on.  The question becomes how do we fix this?  Can email even be fixed?

Collaboration tools tout their ability to "fix" email by providing alternative methods of sharing information for teams.  There are many cases where these tools can do just that, providing a significant improvement in team productivity and collaboration.  The difficulty arises when these tools are used to duplicate the flawed processes of email in a new set of functionality.

Distributing information

When it comes to sending out information to individuals, email on it's own is fairly effective.  Where it falls down is under it's own weight.  The firehose effect kicks in quickly with a deluge of FYIs, updates, junk mail, CCs, and so on. Email fails to deliver on this basic requirement and critical messages are lost in the fray.  "I sent you an email" is the equivalent of "I wrote it down for you but I can't tell you where it is. Why don't you know?"

Content distribution through a collaboration tool from the user perspective should provide simple notification, easy reference, and easier retrieval without requiring additional effort on the part of the recipient.  Imagine if the only way you could receive your mail was by running your own post office?

Gathering feedback

Email is a common tool to ask people to review some piece of information and then respond accordingly.  Whether it is for an approval, comments, or something more complex, email is expected to be the intermediary to facilitate the process.  If the request for feedback is handled in the way most efficient for email, the request is sent to multiple recipients and they each respond to the original sender.  It's when the dreaded "reply to all" button is clicked that this knot tightens and strangles the productive process.

When gathering feedback requires multiple people to not only respond to the original request but to each other's responses as well email is left by the side of the road in deference to something more robust such as a collaboration tool. 

Storing content

If you have used email for any length of time you're familiar with the process of keeping your old emails for reference.  You never know when you may be asked for something in an old message so you become a "digital hoarder" until the IT department comes knocking, telling you to clean up your mail storage because you're over your quota yet again.

Think about your colleagues and how their behaviors, when it comes to email, aren't much different than your own.  If a manager sends an email with the holiday schedule to their team of 20 you can almost guarantee there are 20 copies of that email now stored in the system, if for no other reason than to keep the link to the calendar.  Email systems have become the information catch all, the CYA filing cabinet, and the destination for all things you can't find a better home for.  While your system may be organized and effective, it would be child's play for you to find a colleague who is the opposite.

How do we fix this?

Unfortunately there is no quick fix to the email dilemma.  The best solution is to evaluate how email is being used, what are the alternatives, and what will it take to make those alternatives become user friendly solutions to the email problem.  Don't try to fix the email; fix the problems email is revealing.  After all, you went to lunch to eat, not to reorganize the restaurant now didn't you?