Does Instant Messaging Make You More Productive?

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  1

  salmaanz

  11/21/07 | Report as spam

  Prod. booster, for sure

  As with many other forms of communication, its all about work ethic and how the employee manages his or her time. The phone and email can also be considered time wasters because some employees do waste time yapping away on the phone on non-company related conversations, or email chains of jokes and miscellaneous information that has nothing to do with the employee's job role or even the company itself.
  
  I'm in B2B sales at one of teh world's largest PC manufacturers, and prior to this job I spent five years, also in B2B sales, at one of the largest telecom companies in North America and in both cases, IM has been immensely helpful to boosting productivity - I can see if the users' online statuses, its faster than email in most cases, and as mentioned - I can keep working / multi-tasking with other apps at the same time.
  
  If I didn't know how to manage my time or if I didn't have a strong work ethic, then yes I suppose it would waste my time, but then again I'd probably be wasting my time anyways with phone and emails.

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  2

  JaneHC

  11/21/07 | Report as spam

  RE: Does Instant Messaging Make You More Productive?

  In our business 14 of our staff work from home due to the voice-over IP technology available. Instant Messaging is a complete LIFESAVER allowing us instant communication, instant answers to training questions, and to visually see who is available or not. We have created specific policies and procedures for our Instant Messaging which has made it's use invaluable.

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  3

  Dgoldenberg

  11/21/07 | Report as spam

  Can't Do It

  I've tried several times to integrate IMs into my workday, and I just can't do it. I'll use G-talk for a few days and then just shut it down after I get frustrated with all the distractions from it.

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  4

  rgrayling

  11/22/07 | Report as spam

  Our internal IM helps promote teamwork!

  We have been using Pandion IM (www.pandion.be) for over a year now and it has become well and truly integrated into our way of working.
  
  I am in the IT Dept and have noticed an almost 50% decrease in internal email traffic - reducing strain on our Exchange server and making the backup job smaller (Seriously, all those "Thanks", "No Problem", "OK" etc mails do add up over time).
  
  We also put our telephone extensions and our TMS Major Roles (Explorer-Promoter, Creator-Innovator etc) underneath our names so people don't have to check the phone list or remember how to 'pace' each other when they do decide to converse 'properly'.
  
  We even use the 'conference' function to take the bacon sandwich order on a Friday morning! Seriously, we have had brief and to the point online 'meetings' using Pandion's conference rooms - something we can never seem to achieve when face-to-face.
  
  We wouldn't be without IM - no matter what flavour you choose.
  
  RG

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  5

  ptiseo

  11/26/07 | Report as spam

  Studies: A Dime A Dozen

  Ah! The beauty of studies. You can find one to support any viewpoint. I've also read some studies that "definitively show" IM is "bad". Example:
  
  http://research.microsoft.com/~marycz/ozchi2000.pdf
  
  From Microsoft, no less! I think one serious potential problem with the above study is that it measures user's perceptions, not so much *actual productivity effects*.
  
  Most people love IM because it helps them get answers quickly. Look at the above four comments. Everyone thought it boosted their productivity because *they* got answers fast, not because they saw it had no interruptive effect on the *recepient*. People get warm fuzzies from the immediate attention, which helps keep a positive attitude towards IM, and getting an answer fast in many cases will boost the sender's productivity (you didn't have to waste time on it). But, often ignored is the fact that you may have cost someone else's time.
  
  IM is fundamentally interruptive. In fact, it traditionally has been more intrusive than email. However, I would argue that the difference between your typical modern enterprise IM client and your modern enterprise email client is negligeable these days.
  
  These technologies alert/notify that someone needs your attention. The distinction from phone or walk-ups is that these electronic interruptions are user-deferrable and user-controllable. Most people usually don't tell the walk-up to come back later for fear of offending. Thus, you have better control over the *length and timing* of the interruption.
  
  But, you have been interrupted, and if you are in the middle of the wrong type of task, that will cost the receipient of the alert.
  
  IMO, the nutshell version is that IM is useful for supporting live, collaborative, interactive and/or real-time work, but bad for anything else in the workplace. For example, it's good for meeting replacements, brainstorming sessions (if your IM supports more interactive whiteboards or video), etc. Especially if it helps control loss of time due to travel, room setup, etc. It's bad when you are in the middle of understanding/sorting/collating a big data report, etc.
  
  PS: The key to good IM in the workplace is that everyone masters status marking and that the business IM stays for business. Don't let the family and friends in.