Information overload in the workplace.

In today’s blog post, we are going to define information overload, explore its causes, impact on both employees and businesses and how to effectively deal with it.

What is information overload?

In its simplest form, information overload refers to the excess or the abundance of information available to employees when performing tasks or making decisions. The term first originated in Bertram Gross’s 1964 book “The Managing of Organizations”. Gross explained that information overload is likely to occur when the quantity of information available exceeds one’s capacity to process it thus reducing the quality of decisions to be made.
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However, in the absence of adequate policies and strategies to support such solutions, employees may become overwhelmed and overloaded with information. This obviously contributes to a lack of productivity, growing sense of frustration among employees and an overall bad employee experience and business performance. This phenomenon is generally referred to as “information overload”, infobesity or infoxication.

​Everything you need to know about information overload in the workplace

• 1. What is information overload?
• 2. What causes information overload?
  • ● An overload of technology
  • ● Too much shared information… too little time to process it
  • ● Lack of strategic vision
  • ● Quality and quantity of information exchanged in the workplace
  • ● The nature of processes and operations
• 3. How Does Information Overload Affect Your Business?
  • ● Employee burnout
  • ● Employee disengagement
  • ● Lack of productivity
  • ● Poor decision making
  • ● Disconnected teams
• 4. How to overcome information overload in the workplace?
  • ● Analyze usage patterns and understand employees’ preferences
  • ● Categorize and classify information
  • ● Develop a robust internal communications strategy
  • ● Build a knowledge sharing culture
  • ● Review processes to limit multi tasking
  • ● Choose the right tools to support communications and knowledge sharing

SOURCE

https://www.exoplatform.com/blog/what-is-information-overload-and-how-to-overcome/