Help, we are flooded!
Nothing works without communication in our modern knowledge society. However, information is only useful if it is received. One could almost say: the more communication, the better. Well, no quite, because too much communication may result in communication overflow.No, not again! Michael is annoyed by yet another phone call. He is being interrupted for the fourth time. "Yes, I am on it… sure, but let’s first talk about something else .. e-mail would be better .. yes, thanks. Goodbye!" What was I doing before I was interrupted? Ah, yes. The phone rings again – this time it’s his mobile phone. Not now! Michi decides to play dead. Eventually, the phone stops ringing. Perhaps now… finally, everything is quiet, now come on, try to focus! I wonder who was calling? Who cares? Forget about it! As soon as his attention shifts back to the report, an instant message pops up: "Say, how much longer will it take you?" Aaahhh! Why can’t they just leave me alone, so I can finish my work?
Many of us can sympathize with Michael. Various means of communication help us to stay connected all the time – and we enthusiastically use such tools. That’s what they are here for after all. "The advantage of e-mail is that messages can be exchanged easily." The flip side of the coin: a full inbox. "But you can just read your e-mails any time you want." Sounds like wishful thinking! Have you ever tried to ignore your e-mails for one week? Exactly!
Nonetheless, realists have realised that e-mail is a perfect tool to delegate tasks to others- in keeping with the motto: once you pass it on to someone else, you can forget about it. One could also say: management by forwarding.
63 times from the Earth to the moon
We often feel overwhelmed when we are flooded with e-mails. The most drastic solution is to simply delete all unread e-mails from time to time and to "reboot communication".
A few facts and figures: 210 billion e-mails are sent every day worldwide. This is true; however, the majority of the correspondence is spam. If we were to print all e-mails that are sent on one day, fold and put them in an envelope, and pile up all the envelopes, we could easily span 63 times the distance from the Earth to the moon. And we are only talking about the number of e-mails sent on one day!
No wonder counter measures are readily embraced. One example: In 2007 Intel, the leading chip manufacturer launched, its "e-mail-free day" initiative. The "Zero E-mail Fridays" campaign was initiated – who would have thought- to improve internal communication and to help employees to better focus on their work. Although e-mails are not strictly prohibited those who participate in the initiative are encouraged to use e-mails as little as possible.
Stop Communication!
According to a study by the New York information management consulting firm Basex, most e-mail users read incoming messages either as soon as they receive them or shortly thereafter, regardless of whether they are already busy with something else or not. Furthermore, they also allow themselves to be interrupted throughout the course of the day by questions from colleagues, phone calls and text messages.
Basex asked 1,000 office employees, ranging from managers to clerical assistants, how much time they spend each day distracted by non-constructive activities and how long it generally takes them to get back on track after being interrupted. The study concluded that an average of 2.1 hours or 28% of the workday was spent in this manner! In light of these findings, should interruptions be avoided as much as possible or should one adjust to taking on multiple tasks at once. This should be feasible with a little practice, right?
Multitasking, the time-killer
Gesturing to a passing colleague that he should take some prepared documents with him, while simultaneously making phone calls and answering e-mails – in this day and age, someone who is able to do many things at once is considered efficient. The magic word "multitasking" has yet to lose its luster, however, even though studies have shown that humans are not actually proficient in doing more than one thing at a time. "When we try to do two things at once, the efficacy of both tasks is diminished", explained cognitive psychologist Iring Koch, a professor at the Technischen Hochschule in Aachen, in a report by the West German Broadcasting Corporatio.
One simply cannot do everything at once and this applies to our brain as well. In the case of multitasking, the brain has to shift back and forth within milliseconds – an effort which can be quite demanding. Test subjects required up to 40 percent more time to perform tasks simultaneously compared to when executing them consecutively. Koch: "Routinely performing more than one task at a time can indeed make someone more efficient at multitasking. Even so, he or she will overdo it eventually."
As disappointing as it might be, multitasking is a time-killer; it leads to a greater margin of error and puts strain on one’s health. Its unpleasant side effects include stress, headaches and in some extreme cases, burnout syndrome. Perhaps multi-tasking is not a good idea after all? Consequently, a better solution would be to avoid interruptions.
Temporarily unavailable
There are a number of techniques that can help in sidestepping time-consuming communication overflow for a short time. For example, you can arrange to have a fellow colleague intercept your incoming calls and other distractions for a certain period of time, and then return the favour for him or her on another day. If you cannot help but constantly check your e-mails, just have a look at the priority section – if an e-mail has not been flagged as "urgent", then refrain from reading it until you really have the time to do so. Another alternative: if colleagues frequently come to you with the same or similar requests, ask them to bundle their questions together and send them to you collectively.
On the other hand, interruptions are not always a bad thing. Everyone knows that sometimes a bit of distraction can be very beneficial. Engaging oneself, even briefly, in something else can be stimulating, especially when one has run into a wall and cannot move forward. In this case, an unexpected sidestep can have a positive effect.
"Sometimes less communication is just better", reasoned Michael as he tried to sum up his thoughts. "But first I have to send another e-mail to Sandra so that she doesn’t have to wait any longer…oh, and I can’t forget my Blackberry tomorrow!"
Anna Voltren
