Boosting Productivity in the Modern Workplace
Taming Interruptions and Leveraging Collaboration Tools
OFFICE 365SHAREPOINT
Introduction
In today's fast-paced work environment, maintaining productivity is a perpetual challenge. Minor interruptions, context switching, and the constant influx of emails can easily derail our focus and hinder our efficiency. In this article, we'll explore the impact of minor interruptions and context switching on productivity, delve into the downsides of email overload, and discuss how collaboration tools like Teams and Slack can be powerful productivity allies. Along the way, we'll reference a few key studies to support our points.
The Cost of Minor Interruptions and Context Switching
Minor interruptions and frequent context switching can significantly diminish productivity. We’ve all experienced it, especially those of us who’ve spent time in the technical world. The casual fly-by from someone who needs something “really quick”, which turns into a several hour detour that you were not expecting, while the tasks you planned for your day get deprioritized. For many professionals, this has become the new normal, which is why it’s important to recognize the impact of these seemingly benign requests.
Cognitive Overload - Continually shifting between tasks can lead to cognitive overload, reducing our ability to concentrate and make sound decisions. A study conducted at the University of California, Irvine, found that it takes an average of over 23 minutes to regain full focus after an interruption.
Reduced Efficiency - Frequent context switching can reduce overall productivity by up to 40%. The constant back-and-forth between tasks consumes valuable time and hampers efficiency.
Stress and Burnout - Interruptions can increase stress levels and contribute to burnout. Employees who experience frequent interruptions report higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction.
Email Overload: A Productivity Challenge
While email is an essential communication tool, its misuse can be a significant productivity roadblock. I used to have a joke with my employees, which was: “Send me an email and I’ll punch you in the face!” Obviously, this was a joke, but it was my candid way of letting my employees know that I don’t appreciate unnecessary emails.
Aside from the obvious reasons why unnecessary emails can be problematic, here is a short list of my personal grievances with email overload…
Managing everything from your inbox - When you manage your business from your inbox alone, you’re setting yourself up for the productivity version of “death by a thousand cuts”. In addition to impacting your personal productivity, as a company-wide culture, this bad habit can severely limit the scalability of an organization.
Look at me, I’m working! - Let’s face it, we all know someone that jumps in on an email chain to make sure everyone knows that they’re working. This just creates extra chatter and probably elicits an eyeroll from the people who are reading between the lines.
Setting expectations of a response - When you send someone an email, in many cases it is sent with the expectation of a response. Even if the email is not a high priority, that expectation may nag your colleague until they break stride to respond.
Immediate responses = I’m not busy enough - To be fair, some people have jobs where an immediate response to emails is the expectation. If you don’t fall into that category, be cognizant of the fact that immediate responses to emails may be an indicator that you’re not busy enough. When you respond to emails immediately you may be setting that expectation moving forward. I personally take a little more time than most people to respond to internal emails because I manage it in intervals instead of all day every day.
How to stop the bleeding
Here are a few simple ideas that may help you be more productive by eliminating unnecessary interruptions, unwanted emails, and context switching.
Use the tools - While email is always going to be a critical communications path, tools like Slack and Teams help to eliminate chatter from your inbox and allow for more advanced collaboration.
Schedule time for your work - Actively block out time on your calendar to focus on project work and other high priority tasks. This sets aside the time to do the task and notifies your colleagues that you are actively working on something important.
Automating repetitive tasks - Automating repetitive tasks with tools such as Power Automate eliminates the time associated with the task, as well as the context switching. Automation can also help you standardize processes, potentially saving you more time down the line.
Pick up the phone - Don’t be afraid to pick up your phone or call someone via Teams instead of sending an email. The next time you’re crafting the perfect email, ask yourself why you’re spending 30 minutes writing a 5-minute conversation.
Commit to changing bad habits - Finally, make a personal and/or organizational commitment to changing bad habits, such as sending documents as email attachments instead of links to a document stored in One Drive or SharePoint.
Conclusion
In the modern workplace, productivity is a prized asset. Minor interruptions, context switching, and email overload can all pose formidable challenges to maintaining efficiency. However, collaboration tools like Teams and Slack provide a solution by promoting streamlined communication, real-time collaboration, and improved focus. Additional tools, such as SharePoint and OneDrive can significantly streamline the management of documents, especially those that require collaboration. Finally, a commitment to improving productivity is paramount to structuring your work environment in a way that supports your productivity goals.
By acknowledging these challenges and embracing the right tools, you can regain control over your productivity and thrive in the contemporary work environment.