Using Collaboration Tools Wisely?

Analyst firm claims that collaboration overload costs $588B a year! Among other points made in the article:

Beyond the interruptions and competitive pressure, the different modes of collaboration have created more locations through which people can store data. This makes it harder for users to find information, prompting users to "reinvent the wheel because information cannot be found," Basex said.

Basex' conclusion is that the more information we have, the more we generate, making it harder to manage.

Claims Collaboration Overload Costs U.S. $588B a Year

 

We've all experienced this. Whether it's being unsure of the whereabouts or even existence of a "master" document that's being collaboratively developed, or having to spend the morning just going through e-mails, several of which merely contain an acknowledgement of a previous message, the tools we have for collaboration, especially the one's focused on in this article (e-mail, IM) are definitely costly distractions.

It would seem that the very act of working with others - or at least the tools for communications - can get in the way of actually working.

The article points out:

… Basex proposed several steps to mitigate information overload. With e-mail as the biggest offender, Basex said users can save time by not e-mailing someone, and then following up with a phone call or an instant message two seconds later (a no-brainer perhaps, but a trap many of us fall into).

Basex also said users must not combine multiple topics or requests in a single e-mail; make sure the subject clearly reflects the topic and urgency of the message; read their e-mails before sending to make sure they make sense; and will not hit reply-all unless necessary or reply with one-word e-mails such as "thanks."

I would add a couple of points:

• If someone sends an e-mail responding to a previous request there's no reason to reply unless further clarification is needed. Sending an e-mail saying "OK" is a major waste of time. For you and the recipient.
• Multiple topics are definitely a bad practice, but if you can send a subject line that reflect the multiple topics, perhaps that's OK. The problem is replying:
  • Always endeavor to have clear subject that describe as much as possible the contents and the source. An e-mail subject such as "Tuesday's Meeting" may make sense to you when you send it, but without knowing which Tuesday (past or future), the meeting subject matter and possibly some project or client identification makes addressing the message in a timely and appropriate manner difficult and perhaps will also waste time

It's also important to change the subject of a message thread if the topic changes. Don't keep using the same subject when the contents no longer relate to the topic at hand. You should also delete all the thread content that's no longer important to the new subject.

To quote the article:

For all communication, Basex wants to remind workers to be as explicit as possible because their readers are not mind readers. While the statement may seem like an obvious mantra, it is also easily forgotten.

When discussing the choice of medium, the article points out:

Basex also urged users to choose the proper communication medium at the proper time. The researchers suggested instant messaging is better than the phone when multiple parties need to be on and do the talking, or there are a number of many-to-many conversations taking place.

Instant messaging is better than e-mail when an issue demands an immediate response, or trivial, such as lunch plans. E-mail trumps instant messaging when a note must be blasted out to multiple people and when a message must be archived.

One thing the article doesn't point out here is that the use of a collaborative environment such as SharePoint can also be an excellent tool for maintaining knowledge threads. Just by making sure that e-mails are copied to a project document library and insure that all discussions pertinent to a collaborative project are available to all participants.

Regardless of the choices made, it would seem that there are no easy solutions. My personal recommendation is to go beyond the e-mail/IM paradigm and use threaded discussion sites whether on a SharePoint like portal, a Wiki, or even a group blog whenever possible so that content of collaborative efforts be available. The ideal solution would support the delivery of content created via e-mail, IM, word processing and even phone conversations (transcripts or recordings) to a central repository for future reference. That way the creation tools could be chosen for their appropriateness to the situation, while the results of the effort can be shared for use in the collaboration.