Dunder Mifflin Alert! Nielsen to Disable Employees' 'Reply to All' E-mail Functionality
Part of company’s crackdown on inbox clutter, inefficiency.
01/27/2009 -14:51 PM
There have been plenty of cutbacks across the magazine publishing industry, but, at least to this point, the various e-mail functions within Outlook have been spared. That is, until now.
The following memo, distributed to Nielsen employees today, sounds like it was taken straight from a script for NBC’s The Office.
Unfortunately, I’m told, it’s all-too-real.
“REPLY TO ALL” FUNCTION TO BE DISABLED
A Message from Andrew Cawood
In December, the Nielsen Executive Council (NEC) held an Act Now! event to review suggestions from across the business that would eliminate bureaucracy and inefficiency. Beginning Thursday, January 29, we will implement one of the approved recommendations: removing the “Reply to All” functionality from Microsoft Outlook.
We have noticed that the “Reply to All” functionality results in unnecessary inbox clutter. Beginning Thursday we will eliminate this function, allowing you to reply only to the sender. Responders who want to copy all can do so by selecting the names or using a distribution list.
Eliminating the “Reply to All” function will:
• Require us to copy only those who need to be involved in an e-mail conversation
• Reduce non-essential messages in mailboxes, freeing up our time as well as server space
This is one of the many changes being implemented as a result of the NEC Act Now! initiative. If you have any suggestions on how we can continue to improve the way we work, please send your comments to Nielsen Communications [mailto: REDACTED].
Andrew Cawood
Chief Information Officer
Frightening.
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That's a really big blunder (That's what she said!)
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 16:33.Forget the reply to all, they should also remove that nasty FOWARD button! Perhaps a Powerpoint presentation on the rational behind all this is in order!
F that S
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 18:57.Everyone should do this. Maybe disable email entirely
Wow, Really??!! And the CIO sends out the message eh?
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 19:29.I'm sure there is a great reason he has a job. Wow
This is true, and im not surprised
Submitted by B. Zabka on Tue, 01/27/2009 - 19:30.I spend 6 years working for Nielsen ... trust me when i say this company actually IS THAT STUPID.
I've also witnessed the removal of WATER COOLERS as well from the work environment which led to people lining up at water fountains. It was a great day when our CEO asked everyone not to have 'water cooler' gossip : )
Replay to NEC
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 00:40.I thought this was a joke at first. Isn't Nielsen a communications company? Did they actually do an efficiency study on inbox clutter? This appears to be a no confidence vote on their own employees and their ability to make a sensible determination as to who should receive email messages. Really quite silly.
Keep them coming ...
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 09:24.Nielsen has been doing this since it became Nielsen. Back when it was VNU it was a people company, now as Nielsen it is a money company. They are firing all the full time people, hiring in dozens of VPs and then bringing consultants. I can't help but wonder what all these VPs are thinking. Why would anyone ever take a job when your first task is to fire your team and the first email is telling you they spent MONEY to find out if 'Reply All' cost them money! This company has heard the toilet flush and is circling the drain. This email is one among many that show how they are wasting money to appear to be a people caring company.
Follow the Trail
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 12:44.The "Keep them coming..." post is right on target. Those NYers in power even had the tactless audacity to follow up an email announcement calling for the elimination of jobs with an all-too-regular "here's the next over-paid folks we hired" email. How unbelievably crass (or just plain STUPID). In this case, follow the trail. Calhoun hires Mitchell Habib; Habib/Calhoun are in love with Black Belts and more were hired than a company of Nielsen's size has need for. So now the pressure is on Habib's save-money-Black-Belt-gang to show some results. Hmmm...since there was B-Belt capacity to analyze ANYTHING, someone had the Earth-shattering idea to analyze the cost of various email types. Whala! "Eliminate the Reply All function will save $XXX.XX per year! Aren't we worth every dollar you invested in us?" I'm just amazed that Nielsen didn't spin this change as a way to reduce its carbon footprint...you know...less server time, less power consumption...you get it.
Stupid is as stupid does
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 12:51.I work for Nielsen. This is just one in a long list of stupid things the company has done recently. To think that all those bigwigs sat around and discussed this and made this happen when there is so much else wrong here. It's petty and laughable. Many of us here were tempted to hit "reply all" to this email to say thank you. I wish one of us had had the nerve to do it.
Email is Haunted by Demons form the Future
Submitted by Dwight Shrute on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 13:20.Fine! Who needs to reply to all anyway. I don't even have electricity on my farm and I never needed to reply to all.
Besides it's known fact that if you "Reply to All" your email goes into Sub-space and attracts Demon Vampires from The Future. It's your choice.
RE: Email is Haunted
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 14:03.OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm dying laughing. Right on!
No Big Deal
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 14:22.It's really not a big deal. Based on the rate of layoffs at Nielsen, there'll be no one left to cc.
Why did this come about?
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 15:01.The reason for this is Mr. Habib made a complete fool of himself using the button. There was an issue with email grouping which lead to a fantastic reply (to ALL nielsen employees) with a famous punch line of "Who do you work for, and why do you think copying me on this is appropriate?" That was a VERY exciting day.
Not Surprised
Submitted by Misty on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 16:46.How efficient is it for an employee to have to re-enter the names of every single person they NEED on the Reply All list? How about memo'ing the issue, targeting the continuous abusers, then taking specific action, versus penalizing the one-click punch of thousands of people??
It's Morse Code Time
Submitted by Scott Adams Clone on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 17:56.To enhance the productivity of the last few people still working at the company, Outlook Email will soon be completely eliminated and replaced with a shared-services telegraph machine. Hopefully the telegraph will work better than the few remaining functional printers and copiers left in the cubicle farms. Luckily, every telegraph will come with it's own consultant.
The "Protecting Mitchell from Himself" Initiative
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 18:22.It is remarkable to see how Mitchell Habib's harrassing comments to an accidental "reply to all" respondent has led to an initiative to prevent him from humiliating himself again.
It is discouraging to see that money saved through layoffs is used to finance discussions about the "Reply to All Crisis." I wonder how many high-level executives were flown from around the world to resolve this threat. I wonder if those in charge of this brainchild are the same people that disabled power-save mode from Nielsen computers.
Keep up the great work CIO! Look forward to a new comedy of errors in 2009. May I suggest eliminating air conditioning?
Nielsen Mgmt. Ruined a Great Co.
Submitted by Long-Time VNUer on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 19:06.I was in a top editorial position at VNU/Nielsen for many years. I LOVED my job and my immediate colleagues--but senior management (this was 2002-2005)was beyond incompetent. The final straw: I had busted my butt transforming a magazine and trade show into stellar economic performers. My boss--and his boss--recommended a big raise. I got 0, nada, nothing, not a penny. I started looking for new work immediately, left within a month--and my salary is now DOUBLE. I always said VNU/Nielsen's job strategy was to let the great/good talent leave--and pay the remaining mediocrity a pittance. To anyone at Nielsen: LEAVE!!!
reply to all is required!!
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 20:00.some people still dont get this
http://www.mediabistro.com/webnewser/the_new_new_thing/
this tard thinks it was a great idea which will de-clutter my inbox
um ..... my inbox is clutter which crap being sent to mailing lists, NOT by replies to all
I NEED the replies to all, they replied for a REASON
pixelgirl thinks that we are wasting other peoples time and being lazy
I guess she has never worked with a group.
HELLLLOOOOOOO
we reply to all so that everyone CAN see the results
people who DONT need to see the results: eitehr get off the list or skip the email
but we decided to include them for a REASON, not becasue reply to all is easier
sheeshhhhh I wonder if these people actually have brains sometimes
Love the Habib Theory
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 21:05.That was possibly the BEST day at Nielsen. I expected there to be a similar outburst the day Reply All got the kibosh, but alas...At the very least I hope everyone did and will continue to waste time talking about how absurd it is.
not the sharpest knife...
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 01/28/2009 - 21:34.In December, the Nielsen Executive Council (NEC) held an Act Now! event to review suggestions from across the business that would eliminate bureaucracy and inefficiency. Beginning Thursday, January 29, we will implement one of the approved recommendations: removing the “Q” key from all Nielsen Company computers.
We have noticed that the “Q” key is only used 19% of the time throughout a typical work day as opposed to the most utilized letters, A, R ,S, T , and L, This results in unnecessary keystrokes, causing a waste of time and silly words that use the letter Q. Beginning Thursday we will remove all “Q” keys, allowing you to type only words without the letter “Q”. Employees who want to use the letter “Q” can now substitute the “asterisk” symbol for all words containing “Q”....
Trust Me Folks: The Carnage Ain't Over
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 09:17.I think the reason normal Nielsen folks didn't have the same field day with Reply All Memo Day as they did with the infamous Habib bluner is that, to be frank, we are running scared and can end up with a pink slip at a moment's notice. That's the reality. While we still see that Dan Sacco believes "People Make a Difference," trust me in that the NY crew thinks that "less expensive people make money." Let me put it another way:
Nielsen
Nilten
Nalta
Nata
Tata.
Get the picture? Our only solace is the fact that the NY crew did not anticipate the NYSE falling on hard times and thus their visions of IPO millions are placed very much on hold. Aww, shucks.
former VNUer
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 10:31.Really not surprised at all it's come to this. Ever since Marchesano was hired to run things it became less about what you could and more about appearances. Endless meetings and pre-meetings and post meetings and redoing work 50 times until it was what it was in the beginning is only a hop, skip and a jump away from removing the reply all function.
I do admit I had no idea you could even do that though and would really like to do it on some of my relatives' computers.
Thanks for the laugh
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 10:37.This is the most hysterical thing I've read in a long time, thanks! As an unemployed media marketing professional, this actually made me think "well gee, at least I'm better off than those poor Nielsen people."
I've never seen such concentrated stupidity
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 11:40.Nielsen management is absolutely insane. None of the current execs know ANYTHING about the actual business. They're replacing skilled, experienced workers with contractors who don't know ANYTHING about the actual business.
If Nielsen management took over a hospital, they'd fire all the doctors and nurses and replace them with recent accounting graduates.
"less expensive people make money"
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 11:59.This quote from the Trust Me Folks post rings true. Circuit City proved it by firing their top producing sales people to cut costs. Look where it got them. Spending executive time to determine the fate of REPLY TO ALL functionality is an amazing waste of corporate resources. Here are some things management should really think about:
severe cuts to travel budgets making it difficult for sales people to go out and see customers; severe cuts in marketing, including eliminating lead generation services on some titles. We always preach to our advertisers that downturns are a great time to invest, to get aggressive, to take marketshare from timid competitors. Then we cut to the bone and take away the support that helps our customers justify their expenditures.
Morons
Submitted by Mark on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 13:12.It is no wonder Nielson is going down the toilet. With morons like these at the helm, I'd say it's time to jump ship!
Get Real!
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 13:26.Are those at the top always so out of touch with the real issue? At my company (Fortune 100 company), the highest-ranking executives debated for almost two years about implementing "Jeans on Friday" policy. I witnessed near-stroke-invoking arguements on the topic. Now how much did that cost (monthly meeting x 24 months x hour-long agenda item x 12 executive hourly wage equivalent).
"The Office" is alive and well!
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 13:45.I know Andrew did not come up with this idea himself, he must of ask his consultants how he can protect Habib from himself. You will probably get a big bonus for this big money saver Cawood. Got any other ideas on that list you collected? Can't wait to see how you're going to top this one. Shouldn't Nielsens management be worried out getting the rating reports out on time instead of this type of horsepucky? I though so! Maybe Nielsens can layoff a few more Americans and hire a VP to watch Carwood. Ummm, what an idea, add this to your moneysaving list.
Idiocy
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 14:06."review suggestions from across the business that would eliminate bureaucracy and inefficiency"
I work for Nielsen, 9 years now, and if they wanted to truely do something about the above quoted message, they would STOP HIRING SO MANY EXECUTIVES. There seems to be 3-4 more executives a week, even while we can't get REPLACEMENT staff for people leaving.
wow
Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 14:22.Wow :)
How exactly is is going to improve "Productivity"? won't you have to copy all the addresses and paste them???
are they running out of ideas to save money?
Mr. Habib Screwed Citi, and now its Nielsen...
My Condo In Boca
Submitted by Robbie C on Thu, 01/29/2009 - 15:57.When I was wurking for Nielsen at one of the rele istate magz, I was there top sales person winning numerous presidential awards. This an outraig. I didn't even know how to reply to all, but if I did I would have been able to call in sick 5 days a week instead of only 4.
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