Earlier this year Dutch media reported about companies that have imposed an e-mail-stop on specific days in order to fight stress on the work floor. The companies involved were Intel, Deloitte and U.S. Cellular. Research findings show that workers get stressed when they see a full e-mail inbox. On average workers send 47 e-mails a day. And some of them check their inbox about 40 times per hour. The companies mentioned above imposed e-mail free days, especially on Friday.

The first reactions from workers were negative and they have criticized the e-mail stop, as they have a heavy workload that can only be handled with a working e-mail system.

To me the decision to come to an e-mail stop feels like senior managers who are not connected to the younger generation of workers, who perfectly know how to use the new media and the social media efficiently. In general, I think that managers should worry about this. Understanding the way the workers do their work is getting complex.

One of my clients reported that he closed certain web spaces for their personnel, in order to prevent spoiling time and costs. The downside of this was that many workers could not act properly toward their clients. This too is an example of disconnectedness of senior management.

The new media and the social media are tools for workers to keep control over their work and actually prevent stress. Stress and new media is more an issue for senior managers in corporate environments. They should make sure they get connected with their workers and their new media life.