Future Workspaces » information overload

Best practices: E-mail etiquette

Ruud Janssen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:33:23 +0000

E-mail is a powerful medium for communication and document distribution. So powerful actually, that it is becoming the victim of its own success. When you keep these 10 simple rules in mind, your communication via e-mail will become more effective. The etiquette is available in an English and a Dutch version.

Instruments: “information overload” self assessments

Ruud Janssen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:51:24 +0000

Information overload is often associated with uncertainty and work pressure resulting from the abundance of information people are confronted with during their daily work. Information overload therefore takes on the symptoms of work-related stress, something that one person is simply more prone to than another. When this form of stress develops, the strengths and weaknesses of your personality and your personal work style play a key role. These three self assessments (interactive MS Excel sheets) are designed to examine these aspects in detail.

English:

Dutch:

Lessons learned: Coping with information overload

Ruud Janssen — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:30:00 +0000

A growing number of knowledge workers is confronted with the consequences of information overload on a daily basis. In the METIS knowledge management project we performed a pilot study at the petrochemical multinational Basell (now LyondellBasell), where we investigated the causes of information overload and evaluated instruments to reduce the impact of information overload. A leaflet summarizing the study can be downloaded here (English), and a presentation with highlights of the study can be downloaded here (English) or here (Dutch).

Best practices: Efficient task management with MS Outlook 2003

Ruud Janssen — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:12:09 +0000

A lot of work comes in via your inbox each and every day. In this booklet, we discuss a number of features in MS Outlook 2003 that you can use to deal with this continuous flow of work more efficiently. As a stepping stone, we use a working method that is often taught in time management and personal efficiency courses for dealing with e-mail. The advantages of this working method include:

Being less dependent on your own memory to remember things
Deciding more quickly about what you’re going to do when
Getting a better grip on your time

The booklet can be downloaded here (English) or here (Dutch).

Challenges for the nomadic worker: Part 1: In Sync

external author — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:05:59 +0000

In the series of posts on the main challenges for the nomadic worker, this part focusses on the challenge to be up-to-date with the people you are collaborating with: being in sync.

What is being “In Sync”?
For an individual, being in sync refers to a mental state characterized by the ability to easily put information and activities in their proper context. In sync is situational, i.e., one is typically in sync with a group of people, a project or an activity.

Why is being “In Sync” important?
Being in sync helps you to be effective:

Knowing what’s going on.
Being on top of things.
Having an overview.
Seeing the bigger picture.
Being able to put things in perspective.
Understanding why others do certain things.
Understanding what is expected from you.

This does not mean that you always needs to be in sync with all people you are collaborating with. Staying in sync comes at a price: it requires attention. Therefore, a stream of information about the activities of others can be counterproductive for concentrated work. Also, when working on multiple projects, you need to be more in sync with the people relevant given your current context, but maybe the level of being in sync with others may be somewhat lower.

Our research hypotheses about “In Sync”

“In sync” can be useful for “doing things right”, but it is essential for “doing the right things”.
One can become addicted to being in sync.

Our research questions about “In Sync”

In how many different contexts (e.g., projects) can an individual work effectively?
How to facilitate context switches at the right moments (e.g., without hindering flow)?
What can make “being in sync” so addictive? Are there any downsides to being an “in sync addict”?
Are younger generations more capable of staying “in sync”? Can this be trained in older generations?

Info-overload: We have met the enemy and he is us

Marcel Bijlsma — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:38:24 +0000

Wij zijn onze eigen vijand zeggen Spira en Goldes van Basex in hun onderzoek naar information overload. De heren schatten de ellende van improductieve tijd op een schade van maar liefst $ 650 miljard aan de economie (in plaats van de eerder genoemde $ 588 miljard). Ja het zijn de kosten van werkonderbrekingen door informatie-interrupties. Een gemiddelde kenniswerker richt zijn aandacht dagelijks zo’n keer of vijftig op zijn email, blijkt weer uit onderzoek van de firma “RescueTime” onder 40.000 kenniswerkers. De jongens van Basex hebben nu samen met onder andere IBM, Microsoft en Google de Information Overload Research Group opgericht. Lid worden? Niet te snel, want Scientific American komt net met het bericht dat bloggen goed voor je is en dan doe je zelf weer mee aan die informatie-overload. Het is om gek van te worden. (source: frankwatching.com, 23-7-08)

Mailexplosie verlamt de werkvloer (in Dutch)

external author — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:45:57 +0000

Door de explosieve stijging van het e-mailgebruik heeft ruim de helft van de Nederlandse beroepsbevolking wel eens last van een ‘information overload’. Dit artikel uit Inforworld beschrijft ervaringen van managers en medewerkers. (Source: Infoworld, June 24, 2008)

No!

external author — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:03:45 +0000

Email is frequently used to assign work to others; it has become a “poor men’s workflow system”. Senders often expect a (nearly) immediate response, whereas recipients may think very differently – but are often silent – about that. A simple “No!”-button (“No!” for “I cannot do this”) can lower the threshold for the recipient to give a prompt reply and thus avoid unnecessary confusion for the sender (did she get my message?).