Key Messages
How to Break Free of the Endless Communication Loop: A Guide for Reclaiming Productivity and Job Satisfaction
If you feel like your organization has become a slave to the inbox, it’s time to break free.
It’s time to liberate from the tyranny of email and reclaim your productivity.
Fortunately, there are ways to do this without drastic measures.
We can apply data-driven insights, case studies and actionable advice for an effective solution.
For example, multitasking is not as efficient as we think so we need to rethink our strategies for better results.
Excessive use of email also adversely affects employee satisfaction so that needs to be taken into account.
Finally, open workflows should sometimes be replaced by discreet operations for highest efficiency.
The Perils of the Hyperactive Hive Mind Workflow: How Email Is Killing Productivity
Being constantly inundated with emails means that knowledge workers are engaging in what the author refers to as a hyperactive hive mind workflow.
This workflow is characterised by an ongoing conversation between employees, where their tasks and priorities are determined by the messages they receive in their inboxes.
The issue with this kind of workflow is that it impedes productivity.
Checking emails on average once every six minutes adds up to spending over a third of working hours linked to our inboxes, making it impossible to focus on any one task and complete it in a timely manner.
This is further exacerbated by the fact that our brain can only focus on one thing at a time.
When we attempt to multitask, like having multiple ongoing electronic conversations while simultaneously trying to complete difficult tasks, our prefrontal cortex takes a hit as it has to rapidly switch back and forth between different tasks.
This takes away precious time and energy which would otherwise be used for completion of important projects, thus hindering overall productivity in the workplace.
Why Focusing on Tasks, Rather Than Communication, is Crucial for Effective Work
The author of A World Without Email has a powerful message to share: no workplace truly benefits from a constant stream of email.
His story begins with a hike he took with a friend who is a management consultant.
As they conversed, the author expressed his worries about email becoming so ubiquitous in work environments and his friend argued that the benefits of email are far greater than drawbacks.
His friend particularly values it for its time-saving capabilities — simply shoot off an email when you hit a roadblock, and get an answer quickly.
However, though many view email’s efficiency as key to success, this isn’t actually the case.
It can be easy to become swept up in reactionary responses, instead of focused thought on long-term goals.
Even highly administrative roles, such as IT support staff, need quiet periods to deeply consider how best to address issues; reactive responses don’t solve them correctly.
It’s only through refocusing our aim away from unrestrained emails that we will see real mental clarity and productivity in our workspaces!
Email Stress Contributes to Job Unhappiness and Reduces Company Profitability
Studies have shown that using email constantly, as is often done in the hyperactive hive mind workflow, has a major detrimental effect on our ability to do our job.
According to 2016 informatics expert Gloria Mark’s study, the longer people spend on emails within an hour, the higher their stress levels are during that hour.
This isn’t a surprise either – feeling overwhelmed by emails puts immense pressure on us and adds to our workload which leads to lower job satisfaction and more stress.
This was also demonstrated in Leslie Perlow’s study with a group of consultants.
Introducing PTO (predictable time off) meant that employees could be away from all communication channels during set times of the week and the results spoke for themselves; there was an increase in job satisfaction levels from 27% to 50%, as well as an increase in the number of people planning on staying with the company long-term from 40% to 58%.
Ultimately, email overload not only causes anxiety but also adversely affects our ability to perform at work and make employees unhappy.
To counter this, it’s important to take breaks from emails so we can disconnect from them without fear of missing out or neglecting social connections – something which triggers an emotional response deep down due our evolutionary wiring!
Optimizing Workflows for Attention Capital Increases Productivity and Profits
Optimizing your company’s workflows can be an invaluable tool for boosting both productivity and profits.
Henry Ford recognized this potential in 1913, when he proposed the iconic assembly line method of production that revolutionized factories across the world.
By optimizing his workflow, Ford was able to greatly improve his returns from primary capital resources such as materials and equipment.
In today’s knowledge sector, the primary capital resource is attention capital – the collective power of human brains employed by a company to generate value.
To maximize returns from this capital, modern workplaces must implement a radical shift away from the traditional “hyperactive hive mind” approach of overlapping tasks and multiple on-going projects.
One example of creating an effective workflow comes from Devesh, a small business marketing firm owner featured in A World Without Email.
By replacing email with an online project management tool featuring “boards” that collect all project-related files, tasks and discussions in one organized place, Devesh was able to optimize his workflow for more efficient use of attention capital.
The result? Increased productivity levels and improved profits for his business.
It just goes to show: Optimizing your company’s workflows by investing in necessary tools or process changes can be incredibly beneficial in boosting productivity and increasing your return on investment.
Peter Drucker’s Theory of Autonomy: Give Employees the Freedom to Thrive Without Restricting Their Creativity
If you’re an executive of a business, creating better workflows for yourself and your employees is essential.
Peter Drucker’s theory of autonomy, which focused on the importance of knowledge workers having freedom to operate independently, is relevant in this case.
A workflow that gives your employees autonomy while also helping them be productive is a win-win situation.
It all starts with understanding the hyperactive hive mind – that group mentality where everyone feels the need to constantly check emails, respond to messages or take part in online discussions just so they’re “in the loop.” You can help your employees break out of this trap by introducing different methods of work execution.
For instance, switching from emailing back and forth to using project management systems like Trello or Flow encourages collaboration without forcing people into a frenzied communication environment.
At the same time, you’ll want to maintain a certain level of expectation about when tasks should be completed.
While involving the team in changing their behaviors is important due to the psychological theory of locus of control (i.e., feeling in control positively motivates individuals), changing expectations through individual actions such as limiting personal checking of emails twice a day is equally as important.
It impacts people’s attitude towards your workload and coworkers will adjust accordingly without even knowing why.
Ultimately, creating better workflows for yourself and your employees should center around flexibility and autonomy: giving them more control over how they work while maintaining high standards for task completion times.
Establishing Clear, Structured Production Processes Maximizes Attention Capital
It is important to remember that clear and structured production processes can help maximize a company’s attention capital.
This concept applies no matter the type of work being done.
For example, Optimize Enterprises, a media company managed to streamline their operations with an automatic process organized in a shared spreadsheet to track activity.
It allows team members to complete their respective tasks while ensuring that there is no confusion or wasted time.
On the other hand, the high-level manager at Optimize has more varied duties.
They use an online collaboration tool for communication and have one-on-one FaceTime meetings with their team to discuss new initiatives and problems that may arise.
Through this structural system, it enables them too to avoid wasting attention capital by having unnecessary conversations via email.
In conclusion, whatever type of work you’re doing, having a clear structure set in place can be beneficial in maximizing attention capital and allowing your employees to focus on the important work instead of just talking about it.
Finding the Right Balance Between Cognitive Cycle and Inconvenience Costs in a Coordination Protocol
In order to make sure you’re getting the most out of your communications, it’s important to weigh the costs associated with different coordination protocols.
This can be measured in cognitive cycles and inconvenience costs.
For example, if a company needs to evaluate potential new clients, sending numerous emails back and forth about each one could potentially lead to fragmentation of attention for employees as it takes up a number of five-minute buckets.
Alternatively, a 30-minute meeting held every week may take up only six buckets of employee attention per week, but require more inconvenience.
So it’s crucial that businesses consider both cognitive cycle and inconvenience costs when choosing coordination protocols in order to find ones that are cost effective and maximize their efficiency.
This means implementing procedures that ensure clients get responses quickly so that no business is lost due to long delays.
How to Increase Productivity by Practicing Specialization and Hiring Support Staff
It is important for highly skilled professionals to stay focused on the tasks that require their expertise, rather than bogging down with administrative tasks.
Service sector businesses have invested a great deal of money in advanced technology in an effort to increase productivity and, unfortunately, the results showed only a 2.2 percent improvement in output.
Unfortunately, sophisticated technologies can make it easier to do mundane tasks such as scheduling and filing forms even without dedicated support staff.
As a result, highly skilled workers can get sucked into performing these duties instead of the work they are experts at.
The key message here is that employment of dedicated support staff is necessary if one intends to maximize productivity of highly skilled professionals.
Some economists suggest there could be an immediate 15 percent reduction in overall staffing costs by hiring more support staff since it would free up time for highly skilled workers to do what they do best.
Wrap Up
The final summary of A World Without Email is that the proliferation of email and instant messaging in the workplace has created a chaotic workflow called the hyperactive hive mind, which has resulted in miserable employees who are considerably less productive.
The solution lies in revolutionizing modern work culture so that it emphasizes single-tasking, efficiency, and focus.
To this end, it’s suggested to set up nonpersonal email addresses that specify a department, project or activity rather than an individual.
Doing this can mitigate expectations and make communications less stressful overall.
