Despite being a huge productivity killer, email is still by far the most popular communications platform among workers.
This is according to a new report from email management solutions provider Mail Manager, which asserts that chat platforms (such as WhatsApp, Slack and Skype) are great for informal communication, but email still reigns supreme when it comes to official business.
That goes both for internal communication with other employees, and external communication with clients, partners and customers.
The problem, according to Mail Manager, lies in the fact that most businesses don’t use a formal, paid-for email management solution or dedicated document management solution. As a result, they’re saving and storing less than half of their emails, and many are forced to keep hard copies of their emails.
Consequently, they’re struggling to find specific data or documents in their inbox, so they end up wasting a lot of time. As a matter of fact, Mail Manager states that out of 1,000 respondents polled for the report, a third spends at least an hour a day managing their email inboxes. Most say they waste “too much time” trying to find emails.
“This insight from businesses in the UK and the US shows they face common issues when it comes to email and document management. It’s clear that email remains vital to employees being as effective as possible and maintaining strong relationships with their clients,” said Jacob Wardrop, Commercial Director at Mail Manager.
“However, businesses still aren’t deploying effective email and document management solutions that make their employees’ lives easier and help them quickly find the documents and information they need when they need it. As a result, people are still being frustrated by wasting time digging through their email inboxes, which means they can’t be as productive as they and their employers want them to be.”
