Permission to Limit Instant Messaging - Granted
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
As if email wasn’t distracting enough, the last decade or so has introduced an even more sidetracking nemesis in instant messaging systems. Instant messaging systems like Slack bring the distractions of email but on steroids with multiple channels mimicking multiple inboxes to check and a presumed response time being instantaneous. I’m sure you can tell from my tone that instant messaging systems were not a welcome addition in my life. The default disrupting notifications for these systems chirp louder and shine more blindingly than my email inbox. But instant messaging doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom if proper parameters are set up for their use.
Amy Porterfield is a successful businessperson who uses Slack in her organization. In her business, Slack is only used for quick communications, never for tasks. They exclusively utilize the program Asana to manage their tasks. People are explicitly told that Slack is for quick questions and culture carrying communications like congratulating people or sending jokes or other informal activities. Employees are also not expected to check Slack more than 3 or 4 times a day. They only use it as a fun and quick channel for communication exclusive of task work. I’ve heard of many organizations that use Slack this way with very specific guidelines of what it is and isn’t for, and usually it’s not for task assignment and is for more informal, fun dialogue.
In a previous job, I had access to an instant messaging system. Since I’m not a fan of having many different places to check for incoming messages, I pretty much never initiated conversations in the instant messaging system. If people communicated with me, I responded to them, but it was only as often as I responded to my emails (my preferred communication method) and always after I responded to my emails. I also turned off notifications on the instant messaging so it couldn’t disrupt the work that I was doing.
If instant messaging systems are causing you to feel frazzled all day long, could your organization have a conversation about what it should and shouldn’t be utilized for? Can task assigning be explicitly banned from instant messaging so important work doesn’t get lost in the many channels? In the absence of your organization adding helpful guidelines, are there personal guidelines you can implement to make instant messaging less distracting to you (like turning off notifications, checking it less often, being more responsive on your preferred communication method than on the instant messaging system)? If the technology at your disposal is hindering instead of helping you do your job, then experimenting with ways to limit their distractions is a powerful way to be a more effective employee.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team