Electronic mail use is rapidly becoming more commonplace in the business world than a telephone call. The speed, cost, and flexibility of electronic mail have made electronic mail the definitive choice for today's business communications. McCune (1997) stated, "E-mail, otherwise known as electronic mail, is the latest corporate communications tool" (p. 14). Employees today are turning more to e-mail than to their telephones and fax machines for communication. This new high-tech form of communication brings a new set of guidelines and potential problems for employees and employers: e-mail etiquette, e-mail overload, and e-mail harassment. To prevent potential problems, e-mails in the workplace should adhere to business guidelines.
One business guideline employees should adhere to limits the number of non-work related e-mail sent and received while at work. Today, many employees receive an overwhelming number of e-mails which can cause e-mail overload. Ingham (2003) explained that "E-mail overload occurs when the number of e-mails being sent and received becomes too difficult to manage, overwhelming the user" (p.166). Due to the speed and low overhead of e-mail communications, e-mailing has become the preferred method of communication for most businesses. Most work-related e-mails are short business-related notes, memos, and reminders to and from coworkers which are easily managed. However, when employees start e-mailing coworkers personal notes they can distract from their coworkers work at hand. Personal employee e-mails are time-consuming to respond to and read. Many employees also share humorous and chain e-mails with coworkers. Humorous and chain e-mails only add to the number of e-mails in an employees' inbox. Beyond business-related e-mails, employees receive e- ...