For decades, email has been the backbone of corporate communication. It was simple, reliable, and revolutionary in its time. But has its time passed? Today’s workplace has countless tools at its disposal: instant messaging, text messaging, ticketing systems, and collaborative platforms. And this is where I see the most friction: people still choose email as their default go to, even when the work clearly belongs in a structured tool like ServiceNow, Jira, or Azure DevOps. The way we collaborate, share information, and make decisions has changed dramatically, but email hasn’t kept up. Instead, it has become a burden, an outdated system trying to solve problems it was never designed for. It’s time to acknowledge the truth: email should no longer be our default, and in many cases, it should disappear entirely from our workflows.
The most obvious problem with email is the sheer amount of noise it generates. In a single day, many of us receive more messages than we could reasonably respond to in a week. Irrelevant CCs, chaotic reply-all chains, vague subject lines, and unorganized information make it nearly impossible to keep track of what matters. I find myself archiving 90% of the emails that come in if I’m not directly addressed in the body. So, you have about .5 seconds to grab my attention when email me. Because if I don’t treat email this way, I’ll spend my entire day in my inbox instead of doing real work. Important messages get buried, tasks fall through the cracks. Email wasn’t designed to help us prioritize, provide context, or behave like a ticket queue. It delivers everything, urgent or trivial, in the same flat FIFO list. Modern tools organize communication by project, team, priority, due dates and/or context. Email forces all communication into one chaotic pile.
Email also slows work down. It is inherently inefficient for the fast-paced, collaborative environments teams operate in today. We still waste time hunting for the latest version of a file buried in an attachment or waiting for back-and-forth responses that take hours or days to resolve something that could’ve taken minutes in a shared document or workspace. Attachments, especially for internal use, should not be sent over email. Put your documents on SharePoint or another shared platform, bookmark the location, and never go digging through your inbox for that file again. Email introduces delays, fragments conversations, and blurs responsibility. Tools like Slack, Teams, shared documents, and project management systems allow people to collaborate instantly and transparently with a clear, auditable record of changes, directly tied to the work. Nothing is hidden. Nothing gets lost. Email simply wasn’t built for dynamic, multi-person workflows, yet we keep trying to force it into that role.
Finally, email encourages bad work habits and undermines team culture. People use email to avoid direct conversations, accountability, or clear ownership. Managers issue instructions over email instead of placing tasks into proper systems where responsibilities and deadlines are visible. Team members forward threads, hide behind long paragraphs, or cause confusion with incomplete responses. And when an email has ten people on copy, it might as well have no one on copy, as everyone assumes someone else will respond. On top of that, email follows us everywhere: on our phones, at night, on weekends. It blurs boundaries and fuels burnout. Modern communication tools offer better visibility and better control, allowing for healthier expectations around availability and response times.
Email isn’t evil, it’s just outdated. It solved a 1990s problem and has overstayed its welcome in a world that has moved on. It had a great run, but today’s workplace needs communication tools designed for clarity, speed, transparency, and focus. If we want to work smarter and healthier, we need to reduce our dependence on email and use systems built around how people actually collaborate. It’s time to let email retire gracefully and build a more efficient digital workplace without it.
And of course, we all know the line: “Well, I sent an email!”. Given everything we know, is it any surprise that email never got a response? If you’re not putting something into a ticket or project management tool, it’s unlikely the recipient is going to take meaningful action on that cold email. Email doesn’t hold people accountable, proper tools do.
So What Tool Makes Sense, and When?
Here is my general guidance on which type of tool to use for different types of work.
Task & Work Tracking Systems
Examples: ServiceNow, Jira, Azure DevOps
Use when: a task needs ownership, accountability, deadlines, or an audit trail.
Not for: discussions, status checks, or FYIs.
Rule: If work must be done, it belongs here, not in email.
And to be absolutely clear: once a ticket is open in one of these tools, all follow-up dialogue and updates should go in the tickets work notes, not in an external email. Email creates fragmentation, hides information from the next shift or teammate, and breaks the system of record. Keep all communication tied to the ticket so it’s trackable, visible, and actionable.
Instant Messaging / Chat Platforms
Examples: Slack, Microsoft Teams
Use when: you need quick answers, clarifications, or real-time conversation.
Not for: assigning tasks or storing decisions.
Rule: If you need it fast, chat. If you need it tracked, ticket it.
Examples: SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Docs
Use when: multiple people need to read, edit, or reference living information.
Rule: If more than one person needs access, share it, don’t attach it.
Knowledge & Documentation Platforms
Examples: Confluence, SharePoint Sites, ServiceNow
Use when: information will be reused, referenced, or taught.
Not for: temporary notes or one-time explanations.
Rule: If someone may ask about it again, document it once.
Live Conversations
Examples: Teams calls, Zoom, phone
Use when: alignment is unclear, the topic is sensitive, or a thread is getting long.
Not for: tasks that need tracking or formal decisions.
Rule: If your message becomes a debate, call instead.
Email (rare, narrow use case)
Use when: you need a formal announcement or are communicating externally.
Not for: tasks, decisions, status, assignments, or real collaboration.
Rule: Email informs, but should not drive work.
Adopt the right tools now, or continue questioning why your productivity never improves.
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Brendan McCaffrey 
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