Imagine a world in which you don’t receive any work-related e-mail except during working hours. That’s right: no beeps, bells or buzzes on your smartphone announcing the arrival of e-mail either overnight or during the weekend. None, nothing, nil, nada.
This is exactly the subject of my latest column in The Globe & Mail‘s weekend Management series which was published over the weekend. It’s titled Should Canadian businesses consider a moratorium on e-mail?, and the topic is well … self-explanatory. In it, I outline how the Germans approach e-mail (and work-life balance in general), and pose the provocative question as to what would happen if Canadian companies adopted a similar attitude.
A favour please?
As always, I have a big favour to ask of you. Once you’ve read it, please forward a link on to others in your departments and organizations who may find it of interest. You can do directly from The Globe‘s site using their easy links, or you can forward it here from the blog. As you may remember from my column earlier this summer, while this is now my new home at The Globe, it is still running as a test. And the more people that read, react and comment on this story, the more likely I am to get asked to make this my permanent home. So I need and appreciate your support!
Sometimes, The Globe puts my columns behind their paywall. If that happens and you are unable to access the article directly through the link above, you can read a pdf version at this link.
As always, I’d love to hear what you think. What do you think would happen if similar policies were implemented in Canadian workplaces? Would the world of work as we know implode and collapse? Or would it be a step in the right direction? Please comment directly at The Globe’s site, or post your response right here on the blog.