If you're tired of the gargantuan number of e-mails you get each day, particularly from colleagues who work a few steps away, here's another reason to encourage face-to-face conversations: "GCs to Employees: Think Before You Send."
The article highlights several examples of attempts to keep thoughts "off the record" when sent by e-mail. The problem, of course, stems from electronic discovery and the fact that even deleted e-mails are never truly gone. Those incriminating e-mails that were promptly deleted will often still turn up during the discovery process, and they can get your company into hot water.
A good rule of thumb is, if you wouldn't write it in a formal memo, don't write it in an e-mail or on your Blackberry. That includes bad language, poor grammar, personal insults, and anything you want to keep off the record. Pick up the phone, or make your pedometer happy and stroll down the hall.
