Ugh, I shudder when people hit “Reply All” to an email when they clearly should have just replied directly to the sender. For example, on an invitation to a meeting, do you need to tell everyone you have a dentist appointment?
What’s worse is when people try to opt-out, replying to everyone to stop using Reply All. Do they not get the irony?
Facebook also is guilty of promulgating Reply All. When a message is sent to multiple people, the default method of replying is Reply All. A former Facebook employee said on Quora that this was done on purpose to simplify things. Seriously?
In the article “8 ways to avoid drowning in reply-all emails,” I’m quoted as recommending the internal communications app Yammer to cut down on these types of emails.
For example, for casual internal discussions about going to lunch or what office supplies on which we’re low, we can generate a threaded discussion on Yammer instead of 20 Reply All emails. Yammer is great because you can divide your company into departments, so for instance the HR folks can have a discussion without involving, say, the sales team.
Plus, you can be on the road and get your Yammer messages on your Android or iPhone app. Believe me, it’s a great way to get rid of your inbox clutter.