珍惜人際情感 遠離電子郵件

Backlash Against Email Builds

Email can be a great tool in helping us multitask and set our own timetables for communicating with friends, family and co-workers. But lately, I've noticed a growing email backlash.
電子郵件是一個很不錯的工具，它可以幫我們同時從事多種工作，并幫助我們根據(jù)自己的情況安排何時與親友和同事溝通。但最近我注意到了一種越來越明顯的反Email潮流。

I have written before about companies imposing 'no email Fridays' or weekends to encourage more face-to-face and phone contact between co-workers. Lars Dalgaard, founder and chief executive of SuccessFactors, a California human-resource management software concern with nearly 1,000 workers, recently sent an email to employees banning in-house email for an entire week.
以前我曾寫道，有些公司為鼓勵同事之前更多地當面交流或電話聯(lián)系，規(guī)定周五或周末不準發(fā)電子郵件。而SuccessFactors創(chuàng)辦人兼首席執(zhí)行長達爾高(Lars Dalgaard)最近給員工發(fā)了一封電子郵件，要求整個一周都不得在公司內部使用電子郵件。SuccessFactors是加州一家人力資源管理軟件公司，雇有員工接近1,000人。

Mr. Dalgaard objects to email partly because people use it to avoid talking with others, or to hide negative or critical messages or information from co-workers, sometimes by hitting the 'bcc' button. His goal in setting the ban is to get employees 'authentically addressing issues amongst each other,' he told employees. So far, the edict is working. People are grabbing their phones or walking to each other's desks to talk, Mr. Dalgaard says. Employees still contact each other online via in-house social networks.
達爾高反對電子郵件，一部分是因為人們用它來避免同別人說話，或用于向同事隱瞞負面消息或關鍵信息（有時候是通過發(fā)送“密件”來進行）。他對員工說，下達禁令的目標就是讓員工“親身處理相互之間的問題”。達爾高說，到目前為止，禁令起到了作用，大家都在抓起電話或走到對方的位子邊交談。員工之間仍在通過公司內部的社交網絡進行在線聯(lián)系。

In targeting email, Mr. Dalgaard is trying to root out long, time-consuming, one-on-one email strings, he says. Other email critics say heavy emailing hurts productivity by distracting people and destroying their focus.
達爾高說，對電子郵件發(fā)起攻擊，是要杜絕冗長、耗時、一對一的電子郵件。其他反對者說，收發(fā)大量電子郵件會分散人的注意力、破壞他們的專注力，因而有損于工作效率。

In related research, email may make users feel less responsible for telling the truth. A study in a recent issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology found that people are more willing to lie when communicating via email than with pen and paper, and feel more justified doing so. This was true regardless of whether the writers were told their falsehood would be discovered by others.
在相關的研究中，電子郵件有可能降低使用者講真話的責任感。最近一期《應用心理學雜志》(Journal of Applied Psychology)中的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，相比紙筆交流，人們使用電子郵件時說謊的意愿會更高，而且也更加覺得理直氣壯。不管撰寫人有沒有得知他們的謊言會被其他人揭穿，情況都是如此。

I am having a little email backlash of my own. I used to be a heavy user of email to communicate with my adult stepchildren and extended family, who are scattered across six states. But I have noticed we are all using email less lately. Increasingly, an email seems to have less emotional significance than other modes of communication, from a phone call to an iChat talk.
我自己對電子郵件也有點反感。我的成年繼子女和三親六戚們散落在全國六個州，過去我大量使用電子郵件和他們交流。但我注意到，我們最近使用電子郵件不像以前那么多了。我們越來越覺得，電子郵件的情感意義要弱于其他交流方式，比如打電話，或通過iChat（蘋果公司的即時通信工具）聊天。

Readers, how well does email work for you in communicating in depth with someone? How much do you rely on it at work?
讀者朋友們，在你和某人深度交流時，電子郵件起到的作用有多大呢？你在工作中對它的依賴有多大？