Opinion: Operation Inbox defies information overload

I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had just about as much of the information age as I can stand. Daily I am overwhelmed with e-mails, mail and faxes. A lot of it is junk, but some of it isn't, and so I must sort it carefully.

A lot of it is redundant - I get two copies by e-mail, one in the mail and one faxed to me - but then again, some of it isn't, so I must take time to review each item.

Then there are the forwarded e-mails. For example, I get an item of interest for the news section and forward it to the news editor. Unbeknownst to me, the publisher and the In Focus editor get the same item and also forward it to him.

Unbeknownst to all of us, the item in question was sent direct to the news editor by the original sender. Now he has four copies, and we've all wasted our time.

I don't know how much time my staff spends sifting, sorting and sending, but I know it takes at least 30 to 45 minutes out of my workday, every day.

It's time to clean house, start fresh and get the data under control. I'm calling this effort Operation Inbox.

Starting immediately, my department will be comparing our online mailboxes to see who's getting what from whom and how many times. We're going to control and direct our e-mail traffic.

I'm also going to track whether we're getting multiple copies of the same faxes, and whether the faxes correspond to mailed information.

This doesn't necessarily mean I will eliminate faxes or mail in favor of e-mail only. A certain amount of redundancy is essential as a safety net. E-mail is great - when it works. But computers go down, servers go down, the satellite dish blows over or lightning strikes. As a business totally dependent on the inflow of information, we can't be dependent on a single delivery system.

When it's all said and done, I hope that we'll have saved SBJ staff time, as well as some other people's time, effort and postage.

It's time to take control. Just say “No,” to information overload!

Clarissa French is editor of Springfield Business Journal.

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