MANAGING INFORMATION OVERLOAD
We live in the information age. And we work in it, too.
Organizations today have access to more tools than ever before to help facilitate communication. These range from more traditional channels, such as print materials, team huddles and email, to newer platforms, including blogs, wikis and text messaging. Combined, these present an array of options for keeping employees informed, connected, productive and engaged. But can there be too much of a good thing?Information overload has become a challenge for organizations of all shapes and sizes. Too much email, communication clutter and conflicting messages are making it difficult for many employees to understand organizational priorities and focus on the work that's most critical to achieving business objectives.
In a recent IABC Research Foundation study, half of communication professionals rated information overload as a critical challenge for their business. Yet only 40 percent believe their organizations are addressing the issue effectively.1 And there is a cost to information overload. According to Basex, a knowledge management research firm, unnecessary interruptions on the job account for 28 percent of the typical knowledge worker's day, costing the U.S. economy $650 billion each year.2
At Bridge, we've identified five key areas to address to significantly reduce information overload:
- Assessing the Clutter—Understand where the overload is before working to address it
- Streamlining Messaging—Create a core business context for all employee communications
- Decreasing Email Clutter—Understand and address the causes of email overload, where it is a problem and what individual employees can do to help
- Leveraging Technology—Know what information you want to push to which employees, and make it easy for them to pull the rest
- Establishing Clear Governance—Build a communication infrastructure with clear vehicles, guidelines and accountabilities for communicators
An overview of each of these five areas follows, including some ideas to help your organization reclaim communication focus and increase productivity.
ASSESSING THE CLUTTER
Information overload typically exists in some pockets of an organization, while other pockets may not receive enough information. It's critical to identify to precisely where and to what extent this challenge exists in your organization. You need to assess it before you can address it! To creating an accurate picture of the situation, consider conducting an inbox exercise to analyze the types and amount of company email and print materials that employees receive. In addition, surveys and focus groups can help you determine what information employees need, as well as how and when they prefer to receive it.
STREAMLINING MESSAGING
Competition for employee mindshare is fierce-both among internal and external sources. Employees are often bombarded with an "avalanche" of information. Many times, messages aren't integrated or contextualized, placing the burden on employees to put the pieces together. And because of insufficient audience segmentation, employees in many organizations receive information that just isn't relevant to them. To address these issues, it's important to coordinate and combine communications and build focus on the few things that matter most to the organization.
DECREASING EMAIL CLUTTER
According to a 2005 IABC study of employees from a broad range companies, 47 percent of respondents said they receive too many email and text messages. Three-quarters of respondents spend two or more hours each day responding to email, with a third spending more than three hours. And a huge majority, 85 percent, said that email overload is having a negative impact on their productivity at least some of the time.3 Addressing this challenge successfully requires clear email policies, an understanding of where clutter originates and whom it affects, and involvement by everyone in the organization to use email more effectively.
LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY
Organizations are grappling with how to use technology effectively in employee communication. Too often, non-critical information is pushed out to employees via email and other vehicles, contributing to information overload. Over time, many company intranets become repositories of vast amounts of information with limited search capability. And systems and tools aren't being used to target employee segments. To deal with these challenges effectively, organizations must determine what information should be pushed to employees and what information employees should pull. Only then can the right technologies can be employed to facilitate these activities.
ESTABLISHING CLEAR GOVERNANCE
Too often, employees are unclear about what to expect from the various communication vehicles they receive. Sometimes vehicles provide redundant or conflicting information. Sometimes particular vehicles are used too often or ineffectively. And sometimes certain audiences don't receive the information they need, while others receive too much. Clear governance is critical to solving these challenges. This includes ensuring that communication channels work together as part of one system, establishing accountabilities for communication, and providing communicators with easy-to-use guidelines and tools to help them fulfill their role.
As the information age marches on, the ability to access, create, manipulate and share information will become even faster and more fluid. Organizations need to proactively manage communication processes and tools to cut through the clutter and ensure that employees get the information they need, when and how they need to receive it.
Bridge Consulting offers expertise in developing and implementing strategies that help organizations achieve high levels of employee engagement during difficult times while maintaining a business focus. If you would like more information, connect with us today.
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