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How much time do you spend every day checking your e-mail? From all the e-mails you receive, how many are really useful? These are the questions that Thierry Breton, who was the French Minister of Economy and active chairman and CEO of Atos Origin – one of the most important European companies of technological services – has brought up when implementing a policy of “zero e-mail” in his company.

The French tycoon proposes the total eradication of e-mail in his company within a few years and wants his employees to communicate through short messages on platforms similar to chat rooms and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Breton states that only 10% out of 200 messages that his employees receive every day are useful and that it is normal that they loose a lot of time managing their e-mails.

Will this be the end of e-mail? In despite of the increase of social networks, the number of e-mails one receives is going up every year. The flood of information is difficult to control and obliges us to spend many hours reading, deleting and answering them. Mr. Breton has already implemented the new method: “If people want to talk to me, they need to come see me, they call me or they send me a short text message. E-mails cannot replace the spoken word.”