An interesting new article appears in the Chronicle of Higher Education: What Happened When the Dean’s Office Stopped Sending Emails After-Hours, by Andrew D. Martin, dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the University of Michigan and a professor of political science and statistics, and Anne Curzan associate dean for humanities and a professor of English. Interesting concept, and an idea worth considering. Here’s what they tried:
What if we experimented with a policy that set some limits in the dean’s office? Here’s what we came up with:
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Limit email traffic to working hours. Except for emergencies, work emails are to be sent between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Use the delayed-send function to ensure that emails to and from people working in the dean’s office arrive only within that window.
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Try to communicate in person. Whenever possible, associate and assistant deans should communicate with one another and with other professional staff employees in person or by telephone during the business day. Our administrative assistants can help us find quick drop-in times.
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Avoid email forwarding. Refrain from forwarding an email to chairs and directors and asking them to forward it to others. When possible, send it yourself directly to the audience you want to communicate with.
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Respect working hours. The dean and the associate and assistant deans should not expect — or request — support from professional staff employees outside of the 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. window. An exception is for emergencies, and then only from salaried staff members.
The authors say the rules became part of the dean’s office’s culture, and although it was not enforced, it is largely followed and has led to more efficient and effective work.
I have to admit, I think it would be hard, and I am notoriously bad for being almost tethered to my email. But I can also see why it would help. I feel absolutely compelled to reply to inquiries and requests. Sometimes I resist the urge to do so, but even then, my mental space has been taken up by obligations. It’s not ideal. More important, it means that when I am sending emails after hours, I am getting into other people’s space when it is not necessary. Emergencies are one thing, and they happen, but I can definitely do a better job of staying out of people’s personal time, and I am going to give it a try.