MANAGEMENT MANTRA: Technological advancement: Boon or bane?

A friend was here recently, on a ‘holiday’, with his family. He was here for a much-needed break from a maddening work schedule, and rest and rejuvenation were very high on his agenda. Along with the handy cam, video camera and binoculars, he was also carrying his ‘laptop’ (and of course a mobile with ISD activated).
My quizzical look on seeing the laptop was answered by “I have to keep in touch and check my mails. I’ll have a thousand mails to tackle if I don’t check and respond to my mails daily!”

Whereas non-availability of information was a major communication barrier earlier, overload of information is the biggest barrier today. A survey done a few years ago showed that an average person receives 64 phone calls/cell phone calls, 37 e-mails, 23 voice mails, 19 interoffice mails, 18 postal /courier mails, 12 fax documents, 12 post-it notes and nine phone message slips per day at work! I am sure the actual numbers are much larger today.

“It is not only the volume which is killing — my greater problem is that they are all very urgent — and are to be given the topmost priority! Number one — I don’t know where to start, and number two — I am not able to decide which is more important!”

This is what a senior executive in a multinational company has to say.

“And it is not only a question of deciding which person’s or which department’s work to do first — the problem becomes graver when the same person sends 10 messages in quick succession each of which are most urgent and are to be handled at topmost priority!” he goes on to add.
“Another challenge is that most of the times there is absolute lack of clarity on what we are supposed to do” — perhaps the sender himself does not know what he wants and tries to shift his responsibility by passing it on to another person /department.

The ease of communicating has also increased the duplicity of information, which is in circulation. On various occasions, it is the same communication, which is being sent to and fro by different people. “Lot of time is wasted in sifting through these messages — most of the time they contain information we already know!”
Also the rate of obsolescence is very high. By the time people sift through the messages, figure out what is to be done in each case, set their priority, decide strategy and are half way through, there is another communication saying “please ignore the earlier communication and focus on ‘XYZ’, which is more urgent, requiring immediate attention”.

Perhaps the comfort of being able to communicate instantly and immediately has made people complacent, who prefer not to give much thought to their communications, before sending them, knowing that they can always revise and resend in a jiffy.

Another challenge is with respect to time frames. Almost all communications, irrespective of the channel, are “urgent” and require “immediate attention”. However, either specific time frames are not spelt out, or, if they are there, they are as real time as the communication system, that is they are not realistic and practical. Result is either stress, or going through the motions and doing for namesake, without actual commitment and involvement.

The issues are many, and the opinions divided, on whether technological advancement is a boon or a bane for organisational communication.However, organisations can take advantage of the situation by exploiting the full potential of the new age technologies on the one hand, and consciously focusing on creating a communication system which tackles the day to day operational issues, on the other!

 

Adapted from thehimalayantimes.com