Part 1: Technology: the problem or the solution
By Kate Lara
In recent years, employees have been working with greater flexibility than ever before. You can check email from the office, the train or the beach. Plus, our communication isn’t limited - information comes in via phone calls, video conferences, texts, chats, and tweets. While convenient, it has become clear that this new working culture comes with pros and cons: speed and convenience along with an overwhelming influx of information. So is this shift actually making employees more productive? Are these myriad communication methods actually making us better at communicating? How can we keep employees from getting overwhelmed? Recent studies have shown that establishing boundaries and communication procedures are an important factor in making innovative approaches to office life work for us rather than against us.
Email is a prime example of a useful tool that has brought its own set of negative side effects to the working world. While it allows for instant communication, it also allows for instant stress if immediate answers are expected or if miscommunication occurs from an ill-worded message. Employees are bombarded with messages while working; in fact, the average employee sends or receives 112 emails each day. Each time an email is received, it can create yet another distraction from the actual tasks an employee is hoping to accomplish. Is it possible that we’ve reached a point of too much communication?
To combat the grip email holds over our lives, some companies have fought back. Atos Origin, a French information technology services firm made international news in 2011 for their decision to “ban email” and aim for a zero-email workplace after three years. While at first this announcement seemed absurd, a closer look shows that initial efforts have been successful. Not all electronic communication was banned in this company of over 70,000 people; most discussions now take place in online networks which employees can enter by choice and on their own schedule. Overall emails have reduced by 60% with an increase in Atos’ operating margin from 6.5% to 7.5% in 2013. Following in the footsteps of Atos Origin, more companies have pursued email bans or limitations, such as UK-based company Rarely Impossible which announced a ban on email in 2014 and has shifted communication to other tools that “do a better job in terms of assigning tasks or sharing documents”. U.S. company Menlo Innovations has also banned internal emails to help limit overburdening employees.
While an outright ban on email may not be possible or preferable for all organizations, the idea of purposeful streamlining of communication into information networks can lessen the seemingly endless onslaught. Slack is one platform hoping that more employers will jump on the anti-email bandwagon, aiming to simplify communication by bringing together email, chats and instant messaging into a single network for a team to share information. However, organizations looking for a quick fix may still run into problems. To actually see results using this or any other streamlining platform, procedures need to be established to help employees to understand when to utilize which tool and to prevent duplicated information across communication channels. Skipping this step means that ultimately the organization would add yet another communication tool to an already overcrowded toolbox.
While studies are ongoing, it’s clear that flexible work arrangements and communication technology brings a new set of advantages and disadvantages for employees. Office environments and communication tools will continue to change and offer innovative ways for employees to work. Employers and employees must prioritize not only exploring these innovations, but also the establishment of boundaries to protect the efficiency, effectiveness and happiness of the workforce.
Later this month, Part 2 of this topic will explore ways to maintain workplace flexibility while avoiding the stress of 24/7 availability.
In recent years, employees have been working with greater flexibility than ever before. You can check email from the office, the train or the beach. Plus, our communication isn’t limited - information comes in via phone calls, video conferences, texts, chats, and tweets. While convenient, it has become clear that this new working culture comes with pros and cons: speed and convenience along with an overwhelming influx of information. So is this shift actually making employees more productive? Are these myriad communication methods actually making us better at communicating? How can we keep employees from getting overwhelmed? Recent studies have shown that establishing boundaries and communication procedures are an important factor in making innovative approaches to office life work for us rather than against us.
Email is a prime example of a useful tool that has brought its own set of negative side effects to the working world. While it allows for instant communication, it also allows for instant stress if immediate answers are expected or if miscommunication occurs from an ill-worded message. Employees are bombarded with messages while working; in fact, the average employee sends or receives 112 emails each day. Each time an email is received, it can create yet another distraction from the actual tasks an employee is hoping to accomplish. Is it possible that we’ve reached a point of too much communication?
To combat the grip email holds over our lives, some companies have fought back. Atos Origin, a French information technology services firm made international news in 2011 for their decision to “ban email” and aim for a zero-email workplace after three years. While at first this announcement seemed absurd, a closer look shows that initial efforts have been successful. Not all electronic communication was banned in this company of over 70,000 people; most discussions now take place in online networks which employees can enter by choice and on their own schedule. Overall emails have reduced by 60% with an increase in Atos’ operating margin from 6.5% to 7.5% in 2013. Following in the footsteps of Atos Origin, more companies have pursued email bans or limitations, such as UK-based company Rarely Impossible which announced a ban on email in 2014 and has shifted communication to other tools that “do a better job in terms of assigning tasks or sharing documents”. U.S. company Menlo Innovations has also banned internal emails to help limit overburdening employees.
While an outright ban on email may not be possible or preferable for all organizations, the idea of purposeful streamlining of communication into information networks can lessen the seemingly endless onslaught. Slack is one platform hoping that more employers will jump on the anti-email bandwagon, aiming to simplify communication by bringing together email, chats and instant messaging into a single network for a team to share information. However, organizations looking for a quick fix may still run into problems. To actually see results using this or any other streamlining platform, procedures need to be established to help employees to understand when to utilize which tool and to prevent duplicated information across communication channels. Skipping this step means that ultimately the organization would add yet another communication tool to an already overcrowded toolbox.
While studies are ongoing, it’s clear that flexible work arrangements and communication technology brings a new set of advantages and disadvantages for employees. Office environments and communication tools will continue to change and offer innovative ways for employees to work. Employers and employees must prioritize not only exploring these innovations, but also the establishment of boundaries to protect the efficiency, effectiveness and happiness of the workforce.
Later this month, Part 2 of this topic will explore ways to maintain workplace flexibility while avoiding the stress of 24/7 availability.