Washington, March 7: The problem of email overload in busy organizations and companies can be solved with the aid of a new computer model, say two Indian-origin researchers.

Ashish Gupta at Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Ramesh Sharda at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, have described the model called Simulator for Interruptions and Message Overload in Network Environments (SIMONE) in the International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling.

They say that SIMONE can produce a model of how email flows within a network of knowledge workers.

According to them, the simulation can be used to devise coping mechanisms for controlling information overload and interruptions associated with emails, two common problems faced by managers of knowledge workers.

"Email has become the most prevalent mode of business communication and information exchange within organizations, and has changed the way we spend our time at work," the researchers say.

They further say that emails provides a cost-effective and open medium for sharing information and can improve time-effectiveness and efficiency by avoiding the need for many meetings and phone calls.

However, the researcher point out, recent reports have suggested that employees these days are spending increasing amounts of time handling email, time that may detract from their primary role within the organization.

According to them, recent business studies have also raised concerns about email overload, interruptions, technology addiction, attention deficiency, and productivity loss.

Conducting an array of tests on email systems with the help of SIMONE, Gupta and his colleagues came to the conclusion that managers may improve email efficiency simply by scheduling email processing times across an organization.

The researcher say that this approach avoids the inherent distraction of continual email interruptions throughout the working day, allowing employees to focus their efforts on primary tasks at other times.

They add that the solution also places emphasis on allowing time for necessary email, and thus removes pressure from employees who feel constantly obliged to check and respond to emails. (ANI)