I’m writing this post at 10 p.m. on a Monday. But if I emailed a quick question to the post’s main subject––Vynamic CEO Dan Calista––he wouldn’t get back to me until tomorrow.
That’s because Vynamic, a Philadelphia–based health–care consulting company, officially requests that employees not send email between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. on weekdays, and all day Saturday and Sunday. The policy, which the company dubs "zmail," began after employees complained about stress in the annual engagement survey. Constant email contact played a role in that. Calista describes it this way: "You get an email. You’re trying to sleep. You happen to look at it right as you fall asleep, and next thing you know you’re up thinking about it. All it takes is that one." And so the policy began: "Let it wait until the morning."
The roll–out required some thought. Managers had to go first. After a month, they evaluated it, and "everyone became a believer in it," says Calista. So the email blackout zone went into the employee handbook. "We’re not going to fire somebody if they violate it," he says. But it’s pretty effectively self–policed.
via Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/3019655/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/should-your-company-practice-zmail-the-case-for-inbox-curf?partner=rss