Information workers are reporting more stress and an inability to concentrate on complex tasks due to distractions of email and voicemail. Ever had the feeling that you never get anything finished before you have to move on to something else? You're suffering information overload. Studies show that workers need uninterrupted time to complete complex tasks. But email, social media such as blogs and Twitter delivers an incessant stream of information, much of it random and unprocessed or difficulty to classify.
The problem starts with our office based technologies. When the technology encourages individuals to manage their own 'spaces' and stores, information becomes fragmented. It's harder to share and individuals duplicate records to serve their own needs, undermining a corporate approach.
When organisations rely on email as their main communication tool, there's a tendency to forward information indiscriminately to everyone, a scatter gun approach to make sure that everyone's informed. Finding the right information to take action or make informed decisions needs more than the search facility of your email application. A well planned information architecture and recordkeeping framework (rules) provides the answer.
Organisations need a more disciplined approach to information. There's a need to structure and classify information and deliver it with an 'as needed' approach. When workers can reliably access the information they need, when they need it, they stop hoarding personal copies for that 'just in case' event. This means:
Organisations are also retaining more information, more data, and more transactions than ever before. The electronic repository might be easy and cheap, but the failure to dispose of records leads to searching for information across millions of transactions. It can seem all too difficult, too time consuming.
Organisations need to plan their knowledge and information systems to deliver relevant, current information. They need to train users to manage their information effectively, including social media. Need a solution for information overload? Contact us for solutions to manage information better and avoid that overloaded feeling.
