Rand Wacker

ZDNet UK - News - Phones 4U bans staff from email

Caudwell said in a statement: “I saw that email was insidiously invading Phones 4U so I banned it immediately. Management and staff at HQ and in the stores were beginning to show signs of being constrained by email proliferation… Phones 4U staff have been told to get off the keyboards, get face-to-face or on to the phone to colleagues. The quality and efficiency of communication have been increased tremendously in one fell swoop; things are getting done, people aren’t tied to their PCs.”

I’m speechless. I was just thinking the other day that I can’t imagine how slowly companies must have operated back in the days of voicemail and “memos”. The pervasive power of email to increase communication and speed resolutions is a major part of why I think we do things so much faster these days (although, I would admit, not always better).

And my feelings aren’t just because I work at an email company, I’ve used email in a massive way ever since my first job in college, and at every job since.

Is it just me, or does everyone else think this guy sounds like a crackpot? (Even though he is listed as the 26th richest man in the world)