Can you go a work day without looking at your email?  Can you go 30 minutes without looking?  Can you go the entire weekend?

I remember back in 1987, when I was Operations Manager for a major Specialty retailer, and computers were just being introduced.  It was a clunky thing, not even in my office, a contraption that was really more of a big printed telephone than a computer.  And I refused to have anything to do with it--until I got a call from HQ saying I had missed an important assignment transmitted via this new intrusion!

How quickly we learned.

Now the other side of the coin is here--we can't live without email.  While attending a meeting of senior managers for one of our consulting clients, the company owner took the strong position that because his employees "hid behind email," their customers were being shortchanged on personal service and human interaction.  His belief was this electronic shortcut was costing the company business.

As you review the email flowing through your inbox, especially all of the items you are copied on, or blind copied on, reflect on how much of a productivity drag exists with this overwhelming flow.  Yet people won;t give it up.  Today's Wall Street Journal talked about the backlash several CEOs have encountered when they mandated email-free Fridays.

It's an interesting conundrum business now faces as it tries to meet the needs of its internal and external customers.  Where do you think the balancing point should be?