Current email and phone practices reduce productivity: new study

August 17, 2006 | article by Ken Thompson in News & Media (120)

A new survey of 1500 UK business people has shown that poor email and phone habits damage productivity rather than increase it.

Thanks to Paul Sweeney of voicesage for pointing me to a new study (May 2006) carried out by ntl:Telewest Business

The study reveals that the two major time wasters are:

2-way communications

Not being able to act because people have not replied and therefore also having to spend time chasing them.

This resonates with the bioteams principle of only using 2-way communications where it is absolutely necessary for this very reason.

For more on the problems and alternatives to 2-way communications see Rule #1 in The Bioteams Manifesto .

Non-business acivities

Using email and the web for non-business activities such as emailing friends, following sport online, arranging your social life and shopping.

This is more interesting – perhaps its not really a problem as people may work longer hours and at home to compensate.

However it could also be that the current command and control style in most organizations leaves people waiting for orders and with time on their hands.

For an alternative to command and control see Rules #2 and # 3 in The Bioteams Manifesto .

Comments (0) | Permalink

Email to a friend | Print this article

Comments

Click here to post a comment

Bioteams Books Reviews

Complex adaptive systems and virtual team collaboration

July 16, 2005 | article by Ken Thompson in Book Reviews (37)

Leading complexity thinkers apply biological principles to enterprises: The Biology of Business is a set of essays by ten researchers and practitioners in Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS).

Buy it now from:
Amazon.Com
Amazon.Co.UK

Comments (1) | Permalink

Click here to check all Bioteams book reviews