The unprecedented increases in the accessibility of knowledge due to technological advancements is not without its downsides. For the first time in history, people are bombarded with fact after fact and thus faced with the paradoxical predicament of research and communication: an abundance of information to the degree of complication. Overcoming this problem will require people and organizations to usher new strategies for communicating in the era of information overload.

Recent studies suggest organizational life has become plagued with endless distractions from emails, texts and the internet, thus translating into lost productivity for the organization. Moreover, as employees become profoundly engaged in their use of technology, in my opinion, negative social consequences emanate; that is, if employees are only focused on their technology, they become isolated from organizational life. As goes the wisdom of American statistician Edward Tufte, “There is no such thing as information overload, just bad design. If something is cluttered and/or confusing fix your design”. In order to function in an economy of information overload, in my opinion, organizations must adopt new strategies to ensure employees work efficiently. Possible strategies could include managers striving for more rich communication channels of communicating to employees; for example, instead of sending emails to contact your employees all the time, managers should engage in face-to-face conversation to humanize themselves, and establish a more lively organizational culture. In terms of personal strategies, this could include taking technology-free breaks to regain equanimity; perhaps consider a prolonged technology hiatus. 

With technology and information at an unprecedented prevalence in organizational life, managers must ensure that employees are “connected” to the organization so they don’t risk burnout. Sustaining strong perceived organizational support for employees will be critical in navigating through the era of information overload. Touching on Ethan Ethier’s discussion on motivation, he states that “successful companies almost always have strong managers to lead and motivate the workforce”. This ultimately relates to my conclusion: managers must always retain a strong connection to their employees to motivate them.

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Bibliography

Ethier, Ethan. “THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION IN THE WORKFORCE.” UBC Blogs, Feb. 2017, blogs.ubc.ca/eethier/.

Hemp, Paul. “Death by Information Overload.” Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business School, Sept. 2009, hbr.org/2009/09/death-by-information-overload.

Nancy Langton, Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge, Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2012, April 12). Organizational Behaviour – Concepts, Controversies, Applications.