Eliminating Information Overload in the Workplace

Information is no longer about facts and figures, it has become noise. Leaders are bombarded with so much data that they’re on information overload; their abilities to process information have passed limits and are now interfering with their ability to learn and grow themselves and their employees.

According to results from the LexisNexis 2010 “International Workplace Productivity Survey,” which surveyed 1,700 white collar workers in five countries — the U.S., China, South Africa, the U.K. and Australia — and asked them about their experience of, and attitudes toward, information in the workplace, information overload is a widespread and growing problem among professionals around the world.

A majority of workers in every market — 62 percent on average — admitted that the quality of their work suffers at times because they’re unable to sort through the information they need fast enough. Further, 52 percent of professionals surveyed reported feeling demoralized when unable to manage all the information that comes their way at work.

“Leaders need to reduce their information exposure and, at the same time, help their organizations create an information strategy that will anticipate the increased amount of information that is to come, manage it and actually reduce the amount of information overload each worker in the organization is exposed to,” said Jonathan Spira, author of Overload! How Too Much Information is Hazardous to your Organization.

The vast amount of information available to leaders has dramatically impacted the need to delegate more efficiently. Employees who work in an environment where management addresses the problem of information overload and its impact will have greater chances to learn and develop.

“Learning effectively necessitates focused, thoughtful discussion and reading, which is impossible in a distracted environment,” Spira said. “Interruptions and multitasking are two afflictions that are taking a tremendous toll on employees’ ability to focus, complete tasks, be productive and develop.”

According to Spira, the recovery time — the time it takes an individual to return to a task after being interrupted — can be as much as 10 to 20 times the length of the original interruption. A 30-second interruption can result in an average of five minutes of recovery time. Without delegation from learning leaders, this lost time can have a severe impact on the company’s bottom line.