In addition to this screen, how many do you have open now?  I have eight websites, a Powerpoint presentation, a Word document, and oh, TweetDeck least I miss any bleeding edge news on operations (I was trying to be funny).  We are bombarded with information everywhere we turn, but does it do us, or our company, any good?  Chances are the answer is  "no."  We are getting information out of a fire hose and do not know how to use, it in what context to take it or determine its validity.  Yet we are compelled to try to act on it all, because heaven forfend we are not the ones in the know.

Debates continue on whether companies should monitor websites, but that's not the point, for a variety of reasons, since memory and communications got cheap, we feel compelled to capture and send amazing amounts of data.  Not only can we not handle it, this "data asphyxiation"  impedes our ability to perform.

Search for the term “information overload” and you are immediately overloaded with information: more than 7m hits in 0.05 seconds.  This information overload, a phrase popularized by Alvin Toffler in 1970 is one of the biggest irritations in modern life, with e-mails to answer, virtual friends to poke, YouTube videos to watch.  Back in the physical world, we have meetings to attend, papers to file, and relationships to maintain. A Reuters found that two-thirds of managers believe that the data deluge made their jobs less satisfying or even hurt their personal relationships.  One-third think that it has damaged their health. Another survey suggests that most managers think that the majority of the information they receive is useless.

Writers on this topic have coined a profusion of phrases to describe the anxiety caused by too much information: “data asphyxiation” (William van Winkle), “data smog” (David Shenk), “information fatigue syndrome” (David Lewis), “cognitive overload” (Eric Schmidt) and “time famine” (Leslie Perlow).  Johann Hari, British journalist, suggest that there is a good reason why “wired” means both “connected to the internet” and “high, frantic, unable to concentrate”.

The problem is two fold, the dizzying increase in the volume of information (the amount of stored data doubles every 18 months), coupled with the omnipresence and fragmentation of said information.

The data fog is thickening at a time when companies are squeezing more from their staff.  Spherion Staffing performed a survey which revealed that 53% of workers have assumed extra tasks since the recession started. This dismal trend only continues as companies remain reluctant to hire. So there will be little respite from the dense data smog, which some researchers fear may be poisonous.

Researchers raise some concerns that managers should consider:

1. Information overload makes people feel anxious and powerless (multitaskers have more stress hormones)
2. Information overload reduces creativity. An HBS study found that focus and creativity are connected. People are more creative if they focus on something for some time without interruptions. If they are constantly interrupted or forced to attend meetings, the opposite is true.
3. Information overload makes workers less productive. People who complete certain tasks in parallel take longer and are more prone to errors than people who complete the same tasks sequentially.

Curbing the Din

What can be done to reduce the roar of noise to a manageable hum? One answer is technology, as searches produce more personalized results.  The second answer, and the focus of this post, relates more to willpower; be selective with the information and quick to unplug PDAs and the internet.  Everyone needs to realize that the 24x7 access is counter productive - yes, people still want to talk to you, your emails will not go anywhere.  Managers, is it really necessary to have instant communication with your team?  How productive is it to have them drop everything to take your call?

Most companies are better at giving employees access to the information superhighway than at teaching them how to drive (defensively).  Derek Dean and Caroline Webb of McKinsey suggest people should:

1. find time to focus
2. filter out noise
3. forget about work when possible

Business leaders jumping on the bandwagon: David Novak of Yum! Brands urges people to ask themselves whether what they are doing is constructive or a mere “activity.”  John Doerr, a venture capitalist, urges people to focus on a narrow range of objectives and filter out everything else.  Cristobal Conde of SunGard, an IT firm, preserves “thinking time” in his schedule when he cannot be disturbed.   All these suggestions are steeped in common sense.

Ironically, too much information can also seem like a dearth of it as employees struggle to find the information required to perform their jobs.  The MIT Sloan Survey on Intelligent Enterprise had some great corroborating facts (link to article below):

Some points include:

Almost 60% of the respondents do not feel they have access to the information they need to be successful at their job. - 60% and that despite being fed information of all sorts through a fire hose.

"Organizations look at analytics as a tool for strategic decision making, not just for tactical choices and activities."

More Reading

Chief Executive - Overcoming Information Overload and Gaining Productivity

The Economist - Too Much Information

MIT Sloan - The Second Annual New Intelligent Enterprise Survey

As managers you may recognize some of these challenges in yourselves, and it pays to be sensitive to the impact it has on your team.  Be sensitive to the impact all this information has on your team's ability to perform and their quality of life and help them set realistic expectations.