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Time is everything when it comes to getting Reply to your email.– And obviously a post on a Sunday afternoon is likely to ask for feedback from your team.
According to Recent research Found that the best time to send an internal email is on a Sunday between 3pm and 6pm
After studying 8.7 million emails, communication software company Axios HQ found that those who sent during that period had a 94% chance of opening, compared to the normal 50 to 76% chance of being open during the rest of the week. .
Meanwhile, the second most effective time to reach your team is on Sundays, from 6pm to 9pm, the researchers said, when emails were 86% open.
Messages sent during these times benefit from “low competition” because they do not struggle to attract the attention of workers with Monday morning meetings and the continuous flow of emails.
But do not narrow down employee responses happily: Although e-mails sent on Sunday afternoons have a better response rate than on weekdays, they are less likely to respond positively.
Previous research warns that weekend emails are the worst – if you care about workers' mental health
Technology has become increasingly disruptive in people's lives outside of the workday, and previous research has shown that workers are struggling to make ends meet. Close And access Anxiety on Sunday night Because they can always be contacted.
Dr. Matthew Davis, an associate professor at Leeds University School of Business, calls this “technological invasion.”
He told This. Time (United Kingdom) It is associated with people experiencing stress, dissatisfaction with work and their work-life balance.
He added: “My concern is if people see this and think I will start sending These things regularly on the weekends. “Because for some it's okay … but having a good proportion of people (for whom) it adds to that sense of burden.”
Dr. Laura Giurge, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Behavior at the London School of Economics, echoed her 2021 work. Report Part Time Email That they are likely to make workers feel like they have to work full time.
“The sender underestimates how stressful the part-time e-mail is for the recipient,” she wrote. “Unlike each other, when we look at our inbox as a sender, we seem to underestimate the impact that “Our part-time attitude can affect the well-being of others.”
But it is clear from Axios research that people may already know that sending emails on Sunday evenings would not be good with staff or friends, as data shows that they generally avoid doing so except in an emergency. .
Despite the rapid response rate, weekends are the most popular time to send e-mails: Researchers have found that e-mails sent on Saturdays and Sundays are usually “important contacts” and are few in number. 2% of emails sent that week.
There is a difference between opening and reading
The report also points out that there is a risk of opening emails but then ignoring them due to staff interruptions when making notes.
“Sending a window is not always the same as reading a window,” the researchers admitted, adding that the percentage of employees who opened an email did not reflect whether it was read or responded correctly.
Finally, managers who need a real response to an urgent email should take Giurge’s advice and clearly state that in the subject of their email. “To help others protect their well-being, it is important to schedule our request,” she stressed. To be clear.
Also, those who send out non-urgent e-mails on Sundays should also make it clear that in order to benefit from the fast opening rate without compromising the well-being of workers.
This version of the story was first published on Fortune.com on August 4, 2023.
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