GoldenEntrepreneurs.com

Introduction

The amount of information available to us is increasing with each passing year. Accordingly, we are all expected to absorb and respond to more information than ever before. There are a number of reasons for this.

The speed with which customers expect to complete transactions has increased. They work on a just-in-time basis, no longer waiting for paperwork to pass through several sets of hands before being actioned.

Technology now allows for the rapid transfer of information to everyone’s PC. Fewer people are employed to manage information. Secretaries and personal assistants have been replaced by laptops and mobile offices.

Globalisation and deregulation have given rise to new opportunities, but they have also increased competition and the need to understand the changing market.

Business structures have changed so that many projects are now outsourced, demanding clear and rapid communication.

There are many ways of instant communication and data access. The mobile telephone, Internet, fax, voice-mail, e-mail, tele- or video conferencing have all contributed to the vast and rapid flow of information. We have all had to absorb all this without any preparation or training. Many people find it stressful and feel themselves slowly sinking in a sea of data.

Recognise the Scale of the Problem

Although information overload is a fairly recent phenomenon, it is already causing casualties. Managers often feel that they have to keep up with the information flow in order to perform well, yet increasing amounts of time are required to enable them to get through the massive amounts of data available. This is resulting in stress and, in some cases, burn out. A world wide survey conducted by Reuters in 1996 found that two-thirds of managers suffer from increased tension and one-third from ill health because of information overload. Stress causes increased levels of anxiety, deteriorating decision-making capabilities, problems with short term memory, and a reduced ability to concentrate - not a good recipe for management excellence. There are, however, ways you can reduce the burden.

Take Control of the Problem

Decide what your limits are and create a personal information management system that works for you. This may be setting boundaries around the time you spend responding to e-mails, filtering them through your assistant (if you’re lucky enough to have one), or responding only to those e-mails that hold high importance for you.

Aim for the ‘Pareto Principle’ when Seeking Information

In other words, 20% of what has been accessed probably holds 80% of the information you need. It’s anxiety that propels people to spend excessive time wading through every piece of data available. People used to make decisions in ambiguous situations; it was considered to be a management skill. Aim for developing your instincts along with your knowledge.

Find Your Own Preferred Places for Accessing Information and Discipline Yourself to Go There Only

You already know which are the quality sites for your particular field of work. Failing this, you could make use of the information officers in the library of your professional body or local business library. They are experienced at finding relevant information and can often save you a great deal of time and money.

Try Not to Be the Dumping Ground for Information that Others Don’t Want to Go Through

Many will try to pass the burden on to you if you even hint at being receptive to the task. Take control of what passes over your desk and decide not to be held to ransom by a piece of data.

Limit Your Availability

Leave your mobile phone switched off for periods during the day when you can be quiet and restful or let your voicemail field calls for you. This way you can determine who to speak to and when to schedule the conversations. Anyone who has an urgent need will find a way of getting through to you.

Learn To Throw Things Away

Have the courage to throw data away or delete files when you have exhausted their usefulness. You can always access the same data again and, probably when you do, it will have been updated.

Resist Temptation

Only look at data that is relevant to your job, the project you are working on, or the decision you are making. Resist the temptation to be intrigued by those things that lie outside your area of responsibility. Too often, people are sucked in to irrelevant detail because they don’t know where to draw the line.

Use the Principles of Time Management

The principles of time management may well help with information overload. Surfing the Web is incredibly seductive, with each link taking you further and further into fascinating but unnecessary detail. Decide how much time you’ll spend in each session, print the information that is relevant, and leave the rest in the ether. You often pick up all the information you need in a few hits, the remainder being less fruitful.

Have Faith in the Future

Help may come in the shape of newer technology. The demands of the information age will result in a rash of new computer-based services that enable more efficient and effective human-to-computer interaction. The computer will become a ‘personal assistant’ or ‘intelligent interface agent’ for the user. Drawing from artificial
intelligence techniques, computers will ‘learn’ from the user, and from a network of other electronic personal assistants, how to execute computer-based tasks that will provide a personal and customised service. In experimental prototypes developed at the MIT Media Laboratory, computers have successfully helped people with scheduling meetings, handling e-mail, filtering information, and even the selection of entertainment. As the electronic personal assistant and the user ‘work’ together over time, they learn from each other to increase the effectiveness of their ‘relationship’.