If I created a tag cloud of the presentations and ensuing discussions from last week's Unicom Web 2.0 conference, the 'email' and 'twitter' tags would dwarf all others. Not surprising really, since email is for most businesses a pivotal communication channel, which is systemically (over) used across all organisational levels. Twitter, on the other hand, is a fresh technology offering some genuine improvements to communications and networking behind the firewall.
But, as Clay Shirky pointed out in his recent interview with Dave Cushman, stuff doesn't get socially interesting until it gets technologically boring. And that's precisely the situation we face with email and Twitter.
It's annoyingly effortless to inundate people with blanket emails, cc'd information, repeated queries or requests for information. The cycle of overuse is perpetuated because it's too easy to hit 'send' without considering other options for engaging people or the impact of sending the email. Of course, existing 'options' may vary depending on the technologies available in the organisation and the extent to which people are actually using them. Like Twitter, for example, which is still being tested as part of the business social media landscape and use cases being established (see these posts by Lee Bryant, Chris Brogan and Jay Cross).
So in that context, Luis Suarez shared with us at the conference some insight into 'giving-up' work email based on his own efforts in that regard, and his use of alternative technologies to help him work more effectively.
Since 'giving up' email, Luis explained that if people want to communicate with him, they now do so through any and every mechanism other than email. It's up to the individual to find the medium which best suits the task at hand. And for Luis, his kit is now replete with 'elective' tools - meaning he can dip in and out of conversations at the best time. He constantly updates his 'status' (using twitter) so that everybody's aware when he's available for calls, for IM exchanges, or to meet up. This means he doesn't waste anytime in his inbox, nor is he bothered by IM or other alerts when he's trying to work. It also means that people's expectations are well-managed, for example in respect of Luis's availability and response times. Amongst other things, this approach makes for less interruptions and greater productivity/effectiveness.
The clear message here is that email is just one tool, and it's a really bad one for connecting people and finding out what's in their heads! But people use it like it's the only tool. They close down many opportunities for improvement simply because they don't take the time to think and unlearn some bad behaviour. Since his abstention from email, Luis reports that getting the job done is all about his network and ideas. He knows what he wants to tune into, and uses his community (and social tools) to help him filter the masses of information, so he receives only the choice cuts and doesn't waste time on bogged down in the inbox.
Luis's story provides a great example of how a twittering-style technology can be used in the flow of daily work providing tangible benefits to the individual (status updates signaling work levels or availability) and others (who's doing what and when). It's this need for greater transparency that Jay Cross referred to as a key use case for Twitter to improve learning in the enterprise:
"When I draw a blueprint of an ideal enterprise learning environment, it always includes an expertise location function. You see, lots of corporate learning comes from asking other people how to do things. The trouble is, we ask the person closest to us rather than someone likely to have the right answer. Getting blank looks instead of viable answers or, worst yet, getting the wrong answer, is a prime means of frittering away time on the job. A corporate ["twitter"] network could overcome some of these difficulties. For one thing, Twitter grows a self-organizing social network. Nothing to fill out. When a question is thrown out to the network, people with time and energy can volunteer at answer. No more inundating the expert."
It may yet take a little time for this to become the reality of mainstream business communication and the networking landscape. However, that shouldn't stop people reflecting on the effectiveness and efficiency of their present processes, behaviour and use of technology. And for those who do make some simple shifts toward a more informed use of technology to better support business practice, they can expect to be at the front of the disruptive change (i.e. innovation) in the way business gets done!
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