Just when you thought Monday morning couldn’t get any busier than Monday morning, you’re overwhelmed with unread emails and pings from Slack. It’s only 9 o’clock in the morning!
Get started with information exploration
Information overload is a problem that affects many workplaces. A survey found that 36% of 300 top-ranking executives from major organisations in 16 countries felt that their organizations were struggling to cope with the information overload.
The culprit is the advancement of ICT and the proliferation of information sources. These multiple sources made it easier for you to find information faster, but also meant that your team was flooded with information.
Multiple dimensions of information can also lead to information overload. Emails and newspapers will not disappear. Podcasts and wiki pages are growing constantly. Just by looking at them, it is enough to cause headaches.
It can be even more difficult to find the right information due to the volume and variety of information available. Everything related to a project, Ai, is sent to you by the project manager. This includes stakeholder requests and status updates. Even the most basic information is shared with your team. This makes it unnecessarily difficult to find the right information.
Unfortunately, trying to process a vast amount ofinformation with limited cognitive information-processing capacity andinadequate time only puts you and your team in the epicenter of an informationexplosion!
Information Explosion: The Fallout
This information explosion can cause problems in your team and your projects.
It is possible for your team to lose its ability to collaborate. Because there is so much information, it can be difficult for your team to decide which task is most urgent or which statusupdate is relevant. It is possible to create tension in your team, which can lead to lower productivity.
A lack of cognitive skills is another consequence. Research has shown that information overload can lead to Attention Deficit Trait (ADT), which is a neurological phenomenon. Managers can experience ADT when they have difficulty prioritizing projects, managing their time efficiently and making smart business decisions.
This could lead to substandard quality project management.
Strategies to Deal With Information Explosion
You and your team must control information explosion to ensure safety and productivity, as well as the quality of your project. These are four strategies that can be used to deal with information explosion and how to incorporate them in your daily operations.
1. Filtering Strategy
This strategy involves sorting through information and eliminating low-quality or irrelevant information. To move emails efficiently into the correct folders, use email inbox rules. Only activate alerts for the most critical messages.
Modern project management software such as Jira integrates filtering strategies into its workflows. Jira’s ability to create adaptive workflows allows you to rely on triggers that automatically transition tasks. Handoffs will be easier and you’ll be able to get rid of unnecessary notifications and hurdles.
2. Withdrawing Strategy
This is the easiest strategy that you can use. This allows you to limit how much information you consume each day. This is to prevent you from becoming overwhelmed by an information overload. It might be time to unsubscribe from the irrelevant email thread. What about the Slack channel. It’s best to just silence it.
Another advantage?