Scaling (down) The Information Mountain
Happy New Year, Warren (and fellow Cafe patrons).
Warren, your second “resolution”–Continue to look for strategies to “manage” the mountain of information that comes across my desk and computer every day– resonates with the VW Credit people who recently participated in my pilot course on communication channels.
I developed the course using resources including the video of TJ Larkin’s presentation at the 2005 IABC International Conference, the many counterpoints published by Shel Holtz on his blog (referenced in this earlier Cafe post), and various other related material garnered from the IABC website, professional publications and online resources.
(Legal disclaimer: All copyrights and intellectual property rights were acknowledged and honored. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!)
By far, the thing that nearly every participant wanted to discuss was how to manage the explosion of information coming at them every day. They focused on email because it has become such a mixed blessing and curse. We talked about how to limit the number of emails we send within the company, how to effectively manage responses to emails, and what options other than email exist for communicating effectively and efficiently.
I didn’t offer any magical solution to the course participants. I told them about collaborative discussion tools including Microsoft SharePoint sites, blogs and wickis. We talked about the benefits of actually using the phone, or talking to a coworker in person, rather than taking time to compose an email. In some circumstances, email is used when it is unnecessary.
We had some interesting discussion about instant messaging. We had tried it for a time within the VW Credit Service Centers, but it was stopped. I have not seen any statistics or reports about the instant message trial here (that’s one of my follow-up tasks for 2006), so I can’t say now why the trial was ended. Some group leaders said employees were sending too many non-business-related messages. As a communicator, I understand the potential abuse issue with instant messaging, but I also see the benefit of sending an instant message as compared to the one-line email replies (with a long string of related messages attached) that clog my inbox.
I’d like to hear from others regarding ideas for scaling (down) the information mountain.
January 2nd, 2006 at 1:36 pm
It’s not for the squeemish, especially for anyone working in a culture of CYA:
Tell your corresponders to bag the habit of sending e-mail with attached threads.
(Some threads are so long and burdened with verbosity, if it were an actual “thread”, it would have to be made of some high-strength carbon-graphite miracle metal.)
Make each message stand on its own. If someone suddenly wakes up and shoots off a frantic, “‘What’s going on here?” Tell them to pay attention and to please ask a specific question.
Without threads, you won’t feel compelled to read old messages. It’ll reduce screen clutter. It’ll also take some pressure off your server’s storage capacity.
It might also reduce ambiguity and improve clarity. No more, “Yeah. I agree with what Sam said, but we should move up the date by a week.”
January 2nd, 2006 at 4:26 pm
Ron:
Those long threads sure pay off when someone forwards you an e-mail and says, “Please deal with this issue.”
Without the thread, you have to spend time tracking down the background, if the person who forwarded you the message isn’t available to brief you.
My bigger concern with the long e-mail threads is the potential for someone to forward confidential information, without realizing the information hidden deep inside the thread.
Just my 2 cents…
January 2nd, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Two more bits. I agree that long email trails are sometimes useful but I still prefer not to receive them. I have had an interesting time with email over the past 6 months in my role with IABC. With over 20 committees, work groups and task forces keeping me “up to speed” the volume can, at times become overwhelming. What I find troublesome is the overuse of the “Reply to All” button. I try to use it sparingly and wish others would do the same.
By the way - Happy New Year Eric, Ron and Tom.
January 2nd, 2006 at 5:41 pm
Thanks, Warren, and may you enjoy good health, happiness and glitch-free technology throughout the coming year as well.
Eric — point taken. There are few rules without exceptions. I just know that, in many, many…..many cases, long threads stem more from, dare I say, laziness and a wish to document one’s participation in the discussion than a desire to move the discussion toward its conclusion.
January 3rd, 2006 at 9:43 am
Those who want to know about some successes in this area could look to Intel, among others. The URL is daunting, but just Google
and you should find their YourTime program. I’m working on applying it where I work along with tips from many others sources, and also using Sharepoint, blogs and Wikis.
January 3rd, 2006 at 9:53 am
Thanks, Tim. I’ll check out the YourTime program; sounds interesting.
January 3rd, 2006 at 1:27 pm
Blackberries may turn out to be a blessing. Blackberry owners will write shorter, to keep from wearing out their tuumbs.
And they’ll ask other people to send then shorter messages.
———
About mountains — in organizations where there’s clear depth of management, messages don’t need to go to the top if the VP level (and so on down the charts) is seen as having authority to approve requests, etc.
For PR professionals, once the communications plan is established, it’s easy enough to blow off a lot of info if it doesn’t fit within the parameters.
Don’t make the rules too tight, of course.
And some folks, like Warren, have a hopeless situation anyway. 13,500 members in almost 70 countries — …
And there’s the problem of which rocks on the mountain come to the communicators, all to often in the form of an avalance, and what rocks the communicators go out looking for, like prospectors.
It’s easy enough to read the Times of New York or London or (is there one in???) Sydney and see what the reproters are writing. What’s hard is to go exploring in new York and London and Sydney and see what stories are coming up. Proactive is a lot harder than reactive.
BAK
January 4th, 2006 at 9:09 am
Tom, and others…
Do your organizations offer typing classes to employees? If not actual courses run by your training departments, do you pay for Mavis Bacon or the other computer-based typing training software?
BAK
January 5th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Brian,
I searched our training site, and did not see any courses focused on enhancing typing skills. We also do not have computer-based training software such as “Mavis Bacon Teaches Typing” generally available.
I remember journalism faculty telling classes that it would be beneficial to learn proper typing techniques. I had learned to type in high school, by my mom, who was a good typist. Clicking away on the manual typewriter throughout high school built up my finger strength!
January 6th, 2006 at 9:34 am
People who study and play piano (or any keyboard-based instrument) are generally fast typists. Methinks it’s all of those scales and arpeggios…teaches your fingers to search out the correct key/note and be fast and nimble. (That worked better for me than the analogy about music and an affinity or natural ability for mathematical equations.)