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I thoroughly sang Chat's praise in Living in Chat. But do you ever feel it's all too much? I do.
There is a dark side, a hidden cost to these applications - to avoid being swept away, you have to consciously look after yourself.
You only have so much attention
You only have so much attention
Chat is responsible for a whole different dimension of accelerating office life: The elders say that once upon a time, there were actual letters sent between offices. I ask every senior colleague what that time was like - most refuse to answer, the others say that work got done anyway. At a different pace, probably. Then came email with an expected response time of 24 hours. Now we have Chat, were your direct messages are destroyed after 24 hours - you are expected to answer sooner by design. Chat also builds on Fear Of Missing Out by design - so much that FOMO becomes a tool for adoption.
As I see it, there are two ways of dealing with this acceleration. Embrace it wholeheartedly and reap the benefits of faster answers, easier access to knowledge - that is a competitive advantage. Or curate your working style without neglecting your responsibilities, leaving time for deep thinking and focusing. That is also a competitive advantage. We will probably end up with a mixture.
Option 1: Embrace the huddle
Option 1: Embrace the huddle
In the article on the awesome power of Chat, I mentioned that teams get things done in chatrooms. You stick your heads together and resolve a crisis, take decisions, review documents in no-time. That is unparalleled with other tools at our disposal.
That comes at a price - a chatroom with many participants is like a meeting in some ways. Meetings are also known to overload. Some people don't really have to be there and read along (where they would slack off in a meeting). Some people just pop in to see if they're missing something important. Not being invited to a Chat feels just as bad as being left out of a meeting.
Knowing the Awesome Power of Chat, use it wisely. Not every discussion needs to be taken to a big chatroom - the immutable nature of Group Messages can work to your advantage. And just like email, do a Meet call when things get out of hand.
Direct messages, group messages, chatrooms - structure limits the madness.
Option 2: Go part-time hermit
Option 2: Go part-time hermit
Your friendly IT makes sure you can't opt out of the tools that make our life faster - but you should block time to get your job done. Not all work can be done as a team. So get familiar with the tools at your disposal, learn how to temporarily block notifications. Use Focus Time. Just don't let your colleagues down - you should leave a life-line for emergencies and you certainly should emerge every so often and see who needs what from you. That's also part of being a team.
You have more tools than just a hammer.
Information strategy for teams
Information strategy for teams
Back in the 2000s, there was much experimentation with the first mobile phones, palm pilots, paper agendas, Outlook. When I felt overwhelmed (or the newest gadget came along), I resorted to rethinking my Information Strategy. What information would I put where?
I feel this is more relevant than ever - and teams being front and center, that strategy needs to be a broader than you, it needs to be a consensus. There's only so much you can do if you don't like reading instant messages all day. If you are a team leader, think cost/benefit and talk to your team about this new form of information overload - what tool to use under what circumstances?
If you aren't: You never had as much leverage as now, so why don't you start indirectly shaping your team's information strategy? Thanks for reading!
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