The Digital Dinosaur Dilemma: When Your Manager Prints Every Email
The other day, while waiting for my coffee to brew at work, I witnessed something that made me do a double-take. My colleague’s manager was methodically printing out every single email from their inbox. Not just the important ones - every single one. The printer hummed away like it was 1999, churning out paper after paper of digital communications that were perfectly accessible on their computer screen.
This scenario, shared recently in an online discussion, struck a chord with me. The environmental impact alone is staggering. Running some quick calculations during my lunch break, I figured that printing just 30 emails a day amounts to over 7,500 sheets of paper annually. That’s roughly one whole tree every year, not to mention the energy consumption and toner waste.
The generational technology gap in our workplaces is becoming increasingly apparent. While my 12-year-old is teaching me about Discord servers and Minecraft mods, some senior managers still approach computers with the same hesitation my parents showed towards programming their VCR in the 90s.
The sustainability angle particularly irks me. Here we are in 2024, with Victoria setting ambitious climate targets and my local council in Glen Waverley running electronic waste collection programs, yet some offices are still drowning in unnecessary paper. The irony of seeing “Please consider the environment before printing this email” at the bottom of a printed email would be funny if it weren’t so frustrating.
But it’s not just about the environment. It’s about efficiency and adaptation. Digital search functions can find an email from 2015 in seconds, while rifling through physical files takes valuable time that could be better spent on actual work. It’s like insisting on using a street directory when you have Google Maps on your phone.
The discussion online revealed this isn’t an isolated incident. Stories emerged of managers having their assistants print emails for them to read and hand-write responses - a practice that feels more suited to the set of “Mad Men” than a modern office.
The real challenge isn’t the technology itself - it’s the resistance to change. Many suggested simply waiting it out until retirement claims these “digital dinosaurs,” but that seems like a defeatist approach. We need to find ways to bridge this gap while maintaining professional relationships and respecting experience.
Several practical solutions emerged from the discussion. Some suggested highlighting the cost implications to senior management - paper, toner, storage space, and lost productivity all add up. Others recommended focusing on business benefits rather than individual behavior: improved efficiency, faster response times, better document security.
Looking at my own workspace, with its minimal paper and cloud-based systems, I wonder how much longer these old-school practices can survive. The pandemic forced many to embrace digital solutions, yet some pockets of resistance remain steadfast.
Maybe the solution lies in gentle encouragement rather than frustration. The next time I see someone printing every email, I might casually mention how much time I save using digital search functions. Small steps, after all, lead to bigger changes.
For now, though, I’ll keep my electronic files neatly organized, ready to print them out if needed - while quietly hoping that the sound of constantly whirring printers soon becomes as obsolete as the fax machine beeps of yesteryear.