No answering emails on Friday

Imagine winding down a work week without having to respond to emails. One company has banned sending them on Friday. And, it is a company that’s in the business of communication.

You’ve got mail, but you don’t have to respond — not on Friday’s at US cellular.

Clint Mosley, US Cellular, said, “Well it feels great. It’s one less distraction for us to serve customers and to better communicate within our organization.”

The company started No Email Friday in 2005, after employees complained about being overloaded with email.

Employees say not being tied to their inbox, actually frees them up for one on one communication — something that can get lost in today’s world of instant messaging.

US Cellular employee Marcel Bakers said, “You know that at the end of the day most people want to talk face to face than by email, but we’re so used to email, so we’re actually helping our associates and helping ourselves to get out and talk to people.”

While outside companies still send US Cellular employees emails on Friday, they are not required to respond.

And, it has not hurt business according to the companies COO Business continues to get better, as does productivity.

US Cellular Jay Ellison said, “I will say that our associate satisfaction has risen year after year, and I would say No Email Friday contributes to that.”

Although US Cellular is in the business of connecting people through technology they still consider face to face communication valuable — at least on Friday.

US Cellular employees say they think more companies should institute the policy.

Not being inundated by emails helps them recharge their working batteries.