My younger (and very productive) co-worker has his IM client running by default and uses it to communicate with other (young) co-workers. Frankly, I don't know how they do it. I would go mad - the constant notification popups in the upper right corner kill my concentration. They're too distracting for me. But then again, I'm probably just getting old.
A former co-worker at a different company had a policy that he would only read/write email before noon each day. I think something like that may be a better strategy than discarding email altogether company-wide. When you need an answer right away, you could always use the phone. And for him at least this did not result in people dropping by his office or his phone ringing all the time.
A former co-worker at a different company had a policy that he would only read/write email before noon each day. I think something like that may be a better strategy than discarding email altogether company-wide. When you need an answer right away, you could always use the phone. And for him at least this did not result in people dropping by his office or his phone ringing all the time.