Welcome to the future. Workplace trends are shifting rapidly, with the introduction of new technology and new ways of working, making the future of work a thing of the present. It is time to let go of some workplace relics we’ve been holding onto. Let’s talk about emails. With so many ways to communicate with colleagues in modern hybrid work environments, emails are becoming irrelevant and will soon be obsolete.
The Slow Death Of Email
Remember voice mail? When enough people decided that the arduous process of listening and responding to voice mail was just too tedious, it disappeared as a practical medium, replaced predominantly by text messaging. Some people even created voice mail recordings to inform potential message leavers that their voice messages would not be listened to at a later time. In other words, don’t waste your time leaving a message that no one will listen to.
With the rise of Microsoft Teams and other collaboration apps, emails are starting to lose their appeal. The current volume of emails received is untenable. I used to practice a tidy inbox, moving everything into folders with processes for responding to all in a day or two. But I can no longer keep up, and I’m not the only one who is experiencing this form of work intensification.
Email signatures are popping up with an extra line telling others to expect delays or to send a reminder after a few days for urgent matters. Following up with a Teams message has become a common practice, as collaboration apps seem to elicit more immediate responses than emails. Reliance on a second platform indicates that the first platform (email) is no longer effective. New tech is putting email in jeopardy.
Emailing AI
Generative AI has a role to play in the demise of email. As more people rely on ChatGPT and other tools for email content generation and editing, it won’t be long before AI is being used to both write and reply to emails. This may seem farcical or stolen straight from science fiction, but the more automated our email communications become, the less we will continue to see them as valuable or practical.
Instead of clinging on for dear life, we could choose to make the transition smoother and more deliberate.
Making A Strategic Shift Away From Email
Organizations can clarify their internal and external communication preferences so that employees know which medium is most appropriate for the various forms of communicating they need to engage in. Team leaders and supervisors can reduce confusion and uncertainty by explicitly stating their communication preferences and, if possible, sticking to a consistent method or platform for the whole team and organization to use.
If emailing is becoming ineffective, what will replace it? Making a decisive and strategic switch without going back and forth will save workers the need to learn and master multiple platforms and from feeling unsure as to how to best reach their colleagues and managers.
