Chapter 4: The paradox of work-email: individual differences in agile digital work

Agile working practices involve connecting with new technologies in order to operate more flexibly, efficiently and responsively. Electronic mail (or email) is one technology that particularly enables this, owing to its anywhere, anytime, anyplace functionality. However, there is a paradox in the way that workers use work-email, with research reporting as many benefits as drawbacks to this ubiquitous tool. In this chapter, it is suggested that individual differences in personality, resources and goal-preferences can explain why such a paradox has emerged, and guidance is given as to how to tailor agile working to allow individuals to more effectively use work-email.