Performance at work has been one of the major focus in research. Companies are always looking for a way to improve an employee’s contribution to the company’s performance. The environment at work is usually complex and competitive. Daft and Lengel’s (1986) study shows the importance of information to the organization’s performance and the key role played by email. It also reveals how email acts as an information repository and communication medium to connect with other people. Many academics have studied the variables related to emails such as the information flow and the information content but studies the impact of the unstructured medium on humans at work is minimal. Like a cliché, the impact of email has two sides. Past studies show a relationship between email and work effectiveness (positive impact) while numerous studies have successfully related email with stress, anxiety, and disorder (negative impact). Another interesting avenue is the impact due to the lack of email. This contradictory results on the consequences of email usage at work have resulted in a plethora of research.
Sproull and Kiesler (1991) are probably the first ones to question the impact of information management through email on employees’ wellbeing. The undesirable effects are due to two reasons – Technology and Organization. Technology as such doesn’t create any effect on the user but the result of any technological action can be turned positive or negative depending on how the organization uses it. Multiple studies have associated an email with the creation of negative outcomes such as ‘‘politicing” and “petty tyranny’ (Ashforth, 1994). Romm, Pliskin, and Rifkin (1996) uncovered a series of dysfunctional attributes of Email including “dis-inhibition and de-individuation effects”. The study also sends out a warning to the policymakers to be aware of the social prowess of email as the relationship with the employee and top management is brought closer.
Mano and Mesch (2010) research studied the cost and benefits of electronic communication in the workplace. They found a positive correlation between work performance, stress, and distress, indicating positive and negative impacts of email. One of the key findings in the study was the hierarchical status of email; managers send and receive more emails than the staffs which explain the difference in the negative effect of individuals; managers and non-managers, supporting the claims of the earlier research (Burgess, Jackson and Edwards, 2005). Another significant finding of the research is the positive relationship between email and work performance, indicating the importance of email to complete a task. Lastly, the study proves that email gives way to undesirable side effects; stress and distress. This finding is further supported by a recent study which established the relationship between email and burnouts, absenteeism, poor quality of sleep along with stress and anxiety (Barber and Santuzzi, 2015).
Barley, Meyerson, and Grodal (2011) research explain why email became the symbol of stress over any other communication device based on sociometric distinctions between them. The research proved the correlation between stress and email irrespective of the time spent by the people. Managers and Staffs are frequently involved in meetings and teleconferences predisposing them stress, anxiety, and disorder. The backlogs of emails increase the anxiety of losing control. They fear they might miss out of important information for which they could be held accountable. The research also shares the ways through which additional work is created leading to the common term “email overload”. This phenomenon was studied in-depth through quantitative and qualitative analysis by Bellotti et al. (2005). The overload also causes spillover from work to non-work hours. The study also shows that people are overwhelmed when the task involves the participation of others. Another interesting research to understand the relationship self-esteem and email overload was conducted by Hair et al. (2007). One of the key findings of the research is the positive relationship between the low self-esteem and locus of control due to email overload. Further explaining the research has shown low self-esteem and worry to be symptoms of email overload. The overload is depending on the individual’s perception to cope with his/her email effectively (Dabbish and Kraut, 2006).
It’s often reported that people carry their work to home to cover their backlogs. This act has a serious negative effect on recovery creating a work-life balance conflict (Barber & Santuzzi, 2015; Diaz et al., 2012). In addition, emotional exhaustion is clearly visible in cases when the quality of email is poor and if the employee is obliged to reply immediately (Brown et al., 2014). This finding is further supported by a recent study which suggested the poor quality and constant monitoring of the email inducted stress (Bordi et al., 2018). Taylor, Fieldman and Altman (2008) created a framework to understand the negative effects of email. The study concluded that email acts as both stress conduit and as a potential stressor. Derks and Bakker (2010) study highlight the soured work relationship created due to too many email or lack of email.
In more recent times, Stich et al. (2019 devised a new theory to understand under what condition the Individual’s extent of email is treated as a stressor. Two conditions namely “email fit” (Extent of the individual is equal to the desired extent of email use) and “email misfit” (Extent of the individual is greater than or less than the desired extent of email use) was created to test the hypothesis. The study also tested the extent of email load using work stressor which is related to burnouts and depression (Bond & Bunce, 2003; Faragher, Cass, & Cooper, 2005; Sutherland & Cooper, 2000). The study shows that higher the degree of email misfit, higher the individual’s perception of the workplace stressors.
Unstructured characteristics of email have led to the rise of an ugly phenomenon called cyberbullying. While the term is common and related to the internet, cyberbullying over email has been a common occurrence. A flame email or abuse over email has been studied long to be empirically proven to have an adverse impact on the individual. The harassment creates social and emotional illness including stress and anxiety (Welch, 1997). In some cases, social isolation and depression created by abusive email push people to commit suicide. The negative effect seen in conventional bullying is clearly evident in cyberbullying as well (Baruch, 2005). It has been reported that there are even gender issues in cyberbullying. The study reveals that females are soft targets (Elçi and Seçkin, 2016). Further explaining the state of the victims – leading a stressful life.
Olson and Lucas (1982) are probably the first researchers who defined the positive relationship between email and work performance. The study highlights the control both the sender and the receiver as over the mail eliminating any inefficiency in communication thus increasing the relationship between the sender and receiver. The theory that email supports an interpersonal relationship between co-workers was further supported by the research conducted by Hovick, Meyers and Timmerman (2003). The study reveals that participants use email for work as well as personal social tasks and confirming the positive impact of email in enhancing communication and connectedness in the workplace.
Furthermore, Chesley (2010) proves that the frequency of email usage is positively linked to work effectiveness and faster pace of life. This study was based on the technology (email) and context at which it was used. Reinke and Chamorro-Premuzic (2014) research explain how email overload leads to not just stress and distress but also work effectiveness. This finding is a complete contrast to many past studies. Similarly, past studies have proven a correlation between email overload and stress but Mahony and Barley (1999) research show that email increases work effectiveness at the cost of overload- the volume of mail is positively related to access to more information.
Studies about the result of email have shown both positive and negative side, does lack of email cause both positive and negative impact as well? One study demonstrated that participants showed increased uncertainty (Brown, Duck and Jimmieson, 2014) due to lack of email while another research noted the poor social support among the participants (Mikal et al., 2013).
