Holiday V work email

166million

They're lucky if I check them when I'm actually at work

tyllwyd

Pixie5740 wrote: »

So people should sit and waste a morning sifting through a whole bunch of emails to save you the inconvenience of not crossing something off your to-do list and making a note in your diary?

If you're so busy that you don't have time to resend an email then you need to manage your time better. I recommend the "Priority Management" training course. It has been the only non-technical training course an employer has sent me on that was worthwhile.

I've got time to send and re-send an email if I have to - but if I've already sent the email then why should I? I'm freelance, I get paid by the hour or by the project, so if a project takes more time because I'm having to resend emails that I've already sent, then either that costs me money through no fault of my own, or I'll end up invoicing your company more for the extra time that I've had to spend dealing on your project.


Everyone has to spend a bit of time catching up when they get back from holiday, and if you are on a salary then that's time that you are paid for as part of your job.

Pixie5740

tyllwyd wrote: »

I've got time to send and re-send an email if I have to - but if I've already sent the email then why should I? I'm freelance, I get paid by the hour or by the project, so if a project takes more time because I'm having to resend emails that I've already sent, then either that costs me money through no fault of my own, or I'll end up invoicing your company more for the extra time that I've had to spend dealing on your project.

I used to be a self-employed contractor so I know what it's like. Sending an email that has already been typed up takes a matter of seconds. I'm not sure how you invoice your clients but none of the timesheets I ever had to submit drilled down the time spent of projects to seconds, half hours at best.

Edit: I should also say that I used this out of office technique whilst I was self-employed too and enjoyed my holidays without thinking about work.

Jagraf

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Did you miss the part where I said...



In fact one client liked the set up so much (he told me so) and has adopted it himself.



I think that if you can't trust your team or staff then they're the wrong team to have or need more training. Even as a company owner there's really no need to constantly be checking in whilst you're on holiday. It doesn't do much to bolster confidence or good feeling in the company if you don't trust people.

I don't know about that, we are successful and our staff seem happy. There is not just one management style or way of running a business. There is no 'fit all' solution.

I would love to see the faces of our contract providers (the customers who kep our business going) if a member of our team sent an email like that.

Jagraf

166million wrote: »

They're lucky if I check them when I'm actually at work

Lol :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

tyllwyd

Pixie5740 wrote: »

I used to be a self-employed contractor so I know what it's like. Sending an email that has already been typed up takes a matter of seconds. I'm not sure how you invoice your clients but none of the timesheets I ever had to submit drilled down the time spent of projects to seconds, half days at best.

Edit: I should also say that I used this out of office technique whilst I was self-employed too and enjoyed my holidays without thinking about work.

Yes, sending one email takes a few seconds but making a note to send that email and finding and sending it again at a time when I'm working and thinking about something else, that takes several minutes and why should it be me taking that time and inconvenience when it was you that was on holiday and can't be bothered to read your inbox when you come back? For one email from me to you in a year that might be insignificant, but if more people start doing it, it would add up. (And in my industry, it is usual to invoice per half hour not half days.)

Pixie5740

tyllwyd wrote: »

Yes, sending one email takes a few seconds but making a note to send that email and finding and sending it again at a time when I'm working and thinking about something else, that takes several minutes and why should it be me taking that time and inconvenience when it was you that was on holiday and can't be bothered to read your inbox when you come back? For one email from me to you in a year that might be insignificant, but if more people start doing it, it would add up. (And in my industry, it is usual to invoice per half hour not half days.)

Sorry I meant half hours rather than days.

I really doubt that resending an email takes several minutes, it certainly shouldn't take you 30 minutes. Especially if you are using your tools such as email, calendars, planners, to-do lists, whatever it is you use properly.

If the email was urgent you'd resend it to whomever I was delegating to anyway. My method prevents me from starting to work on something that another colleague might have already sorted. If your email is truly that important that I and only I can deal with it then you'll take 30 seconds out of your day to send it again.

Email as a method of communication is both a blessing and a curse. Don't let it rule your life.

Jagraf

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Sorry I meant half hours rather than days.

I really doubt that resending an email takes several minutes, it certainly shouldn't take you 30 minutes. Especially if you are using your tools such as email, calendars, planners, to-do lists, whatever it is you use properly.

If the email was urgent you'd resend it to whomever I was delegating to anyway. My method prevents me from starting to work on something that another colleague might have already sorted. If your email is truly that important that I and only I can deal with it then you'll take 30 seconds out of your day to send it again.

Email as a method of communication is both a blessing and a curse. Don't let it rule your life.

I understand that this is a time management technique designed to enable workers to be as productive as possible for the profits of the business. It may work in your line if work for staff to attend that type of training. It wouldn't work for our small business. A small company often doesn't have more than one or two strategic personnel who can run a company operationally. You cannot use the same management techniques across all businesses, large and small.

Pixie5740

I'd class the company I work for as small. There's less than 35 of us at present and I don't think the company will ever have more than 50 staff.

If you don't want to delete email then fair enough but I really don't think there is a need to check your email whilst away on holiday regardless of how big the company is or how senior you might be. If something comes up and is a matter of life or death that only you can deal with someone would phone rather than email.

tara747

166million wrote: »

They're lucky if I check them when I'm actually at work

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: