Archive for the 'Impact and Symptoms' Category

Should We Reintroduce Computer-free Activity into the Workplace?

Posted on February 19th, 2016 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Impact and Symptoms, Individual Solutions, Organizational Solutions

Here is a strange idea: reduce the use of computers in the workplace. Huhh?!?… Bear with me and read on… Computers and Stress Back in the nineties management at my Intel campus realized that non-stop computer use was causing health damage in the form of RSI (repetitive stress injuries – remember all those weird wrist bandages?). To address it, we implemented structured “stretching sessions” where everyone stopped typing and came together to do directed exercises with music and fun. Today we see that non-stop computer use is causing health damage in other forms – and it may be time to.. Read more

The conflict between being productive and being available

Posted on October 11th, 2015 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

The conflict In my business of helping companies solve information overload,  I get to interview many managers and employees about their communication habits. This brings to light interesting observations. I was talking to an employee in a hi-tech company and he raised a problem: he was actually quite self-aware about the importance of focusing on his work without the extreme productivity hit of interruptions, so he kept his cellphone in silent mode. Smart move! Smart move? Not necessarily. It threw him into the heart of a conflict many knowledge workers grapple with. You see, his peers and his supervisor would.. Read more

Mixed Blessings of Technology: Insights From a Family Physician

Posted on February 17th, 2015 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

Given my focus on mitigating Information Overload, I often discuss it with people I meet in other contexts; many interesting insights usually result. Especially interesting are discussions with those people who are responsible for executing literally life-saving jobs under extreme pressure: medical practitioners. I was visiting a family doctor and raised the subject. This doctor had a computer on her desk, where she was required by the HMO she works for to type in details of everything she did, from patients’ complaints to diagnoses to prescriptions. What’s more, this was a progressive HMO and it allowed patients to communicate with.. Read more

The Other Digital Divide – Where the Rich Lose!

Posted on July 23rd, 2014 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Impact and Symptoms

The Digital Divide Wikipedia defines the digital divide as “an economic and social inequality according to categories of persons in a given population in their access to, use of, or knowledge of information and communication technologies (ICT)”. The idea is usually that people in lower socioeconomic circumstances have less access to the bounty of computing, and especially the Internet, than richer folks. This, of course, further limits their ability to succeed in life, deepening the inequalities that are so harmful to society. This divide between “Haves” and “Have-nots” is widely recognized; and yet I note an additional, different digital divide.. Read more

Oh, the Horror: What if You Miss an Important Message?!

Posted on June 6th, 2014 · Posted in Analysis and Opinion, Impact and Symptoms

In a world where knowledge workers may receive 300 emails a day, and have thousands of unread messages in their inbox, one of the best pieces of advice I can give them in my workshops may be Be quick with that Delete button! Unfortunately, people are so loath to heed this advice, that I often don’t even try. What’s keeping them from deleting with a vengeance it the mortifying fear that they will accidentally delete an important message. Oh, the horror!… The implicit assumption There may be two underlying assumptions at play here: one assumes deleting the message harms its.. Read more

New Insight Article: How Work Processes are Degraded by Information Overload

Posted on December 6th, 2012 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

I’m continuing to write the series of articles that analyze the negative effects of Information Overload in an enterprise setting (though many of the points noted apply to individual knowledge workers, such as small business owners, as well). The third of these articles discusses the damage information overload does to key processes in the organization, including effective meetings, team communications, work planning and people management (remember when meetings used to be about thinking and creating value together, not about ignoring each other and surreptitiously doing email?) The article reviews the ways that too much email and constant interruptions have degraded.. Read more

New Insight Article: Cognitive Disability Caused by Information Overload

Posted on November 5th, 2012 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

I’m continuing to write the series of articles that analyze the negative effects of Information Overload in an enterprise setting (though many of the points noted apply to individual knowledge workers, such as small business owners, as well). The second of these articles discusses an effect that is much less appreciated than the time loss I’d looked at in the preceding article: Cognitive disability resulting from endless distractions, interruptions and general information overload in the workplace. This impacts people’s mental acuity, creativity, quality of decision making, and error rates. You need to see the research findings to understand how harmful.. Read more

New Insight Article: Time Loss Effect of Information Overload

Posted on October 5th, 2012 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

I decided to write a series of articles that analyze the negative effects of Information Overload in an enterprise setting (though many of the points noted apply to individual knowledge workers, such as small business owners, as well). The first of these articles analyzes an effect that is at once widely appreciated and yet often misunderstood: the loss of time due to email overload and interruptions, which has been quantified at a day or more of lost time per week. I’ve been looking at this for years, though my original work revolved around email overload and interruptions, and today a.. Read more

Can’t they read?!

Posted on October 28th, 2011 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

The intent of email is to facilitate communication. Right? So – someone mails me to ask to meet Tuesday. I send a reply: I can’t meet  Face to Face that day, so let’s do it by phone – can you do it at 3 PM? The reply I get says: If it’s FTF I can’t, can we do it on the phone? This happens all the time: you explicitly write something – and your correspondent acts as if it weren’t there. Can’t they read?! Truth is, they can read all right, but they have so many emails, so little time,.. Read more

Paperclips and Facebook policy in the workplace

Posted on June 16th, 2011 · Posted in Impact and Symptoms

I remember well the hysteria around Internet use in the workplace. Back in the mid-nineties, it suddenly became possible for employees to access the newly invented World Wide Web from their computers at work, and managers in many companies were mortified: people might (perish the thought!) use company assets for non-business use, and in doing so waste work time! Back then, we saw many knee-jerk reactions in the corporate world. Memos would be issued asserting that no one may access the net without written manager approval, based on “business need”; anyone who violated this wise edict would be severely punished!.. Read more