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The Challenge of Managing Digital Information in the Workplace

The Challenge of Managing Digital Information in the Workplace. Gloria Mark Department of Informatics University of California, Irvine ISR Forum 2012. The nature of multitasking at work. High levels of multitasking in the workplace: Activity switches ~every 3 min .

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The Challenge of Managing Digital Information in the Workplace

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  1. The Challenge of Managing Digital Information in the Workplace Gloria Mark Department of Informatics University of California, Irvine ISR Forum 2012

  2. The nature of multitasking at work High levels of multitasking in the workplace: • Activity switches ~every 3 min. • People work on an avg. of 12 different projects • At the project level, switches every 10 ½ minutes • People self-interrupt ~44% of the time • It takes ~ 23 min. 15 sec. to resume an interrupted task 2

  3. Multitasking and stress When interrupted, people experience significantly higher: Stress ** Mental workload * Frustration ** Time pressure * Effort ** *p<.05, **p<.001

  4. Gender

  5. Emails are a significantsource of interruptions • How much attention does email demand? • More email communication than F2F • 70% of emails attended to within 6 seconds • 45% reported “loss of control” in managing info • People spend ~23 % time on email • Email can be checked up to 36 times/hr. 5

  6. How is multitasking affected by email?

  7. Can we create an environment in which people can focus more closely on their tasks? 7

  8. The field site • Large, scientific research organization • Information workers • Heavily reliant on email in their work 8

  9. Data collection techniques 9

  10. Experimental design Main Participants Colleagues 10

  11. Data collected • 13 participant groups, 52 total participants (including colleagues) • 137 hours of ethnographic observation • Logged over 25,000 window changes on participants’ computers • Sensors recorded over 1.6 million sensor events • Total of more than 700 hours of sensor data collection • Heart rate monitors: Over 40,000 HR readings 11

  12. Ethnographic shadowing 12

  13. Ethnographic shadowing 13

  14. Computer logging: Durations t(12) = −5.00, p < .001 14

  15. Computer logging: Frequencies t(12) = 6.50, p < .0001 15

  16. Heart rate and stress • Heart rate variability (HRV) is widely used as an indicator of mental stress • The lower the measure of HRV, the higher the amount of stress that an individual experiences • Data obtained from only seven participants 16

  17. Email and stress: HRV data t(6) = -2.260, p = .065 17

  18. Email and stress: HRV data t(6) = -2.260, p = .065 Levene’s test: F(1, 40409) = 33.40, p< .001 18

  19. Effect on colleagues • For each participant, 2–7 closest team members were asked about stress, work, productivity, e.g.: • “It was easy for me to reach [XX] to get information I needed from [him/her]” • No significant difference between Baseline and No Email • Trend for more agreement in Baseline than in No Email(p < .08) for this statement: • “I was able to get the information I needed to conduct my work today” 19

  20. Analysis of interview data • Lack of agency/loss of control • More face-to-face time • More task focus • Feeling cut off 20

  21. Lack of agency/loss of control • ~ 1/2 of informants described that they felt like they were not in control of their email • When asked how they felt about working without email, nearly all informants described that their pace was more relaxed. “I let the sound of the bell and the pop-ups rule my life.” “It ruled my life—that made me feel depressed, and now I feelliberated [without email]…too much headache trying to keepon top of everything.” 21

  22. Email, communication, and workplace relationships • All informants reported that with email cut off, they interacted with people more, both face-to-face and by phone • They viewed this change as a benefit • Informants expressed that during the time of email cut off, they became aware that the use of email hindered their work relationships “[Working without email] helps with one-on-one relationships” 22

  23. More focus • Nearly all informants: during the time that email was cut off, they were able to spend longer periods of time on a task and focus more intently on their work “It gave me time to think about [work] more.” “I was able to spend time actually doing tasks thathad to be done…. It was nice to be able to sit andwork on a manuscript for the whole morning.” “When I didn’t have email, multitasking, I hadthree projects done. I was more focused.” 23

  24. Feeling “cut off” • Biggest disadvantage expressed by informants when they did not have email was that they felt “cut off.” • About half the informants described it as a general sense of isolation • This feeling seemed to be grounded in a fear that they were potentially missing out on organizational information “Yes—hands down—it isolates you as theone person who’s not plugged in.” “The hardest thing was not being sure what I missed.” 24

  25. Recommendations • Email vacations • Batching email • Use of a pull-oriented channel • Organization should consider the immaterial benefitsof email reduction 25

  26. Summary • By cutting off email, people could report from their actual experience • When email is cut off for five days: • Duration on task increases; • Frequency of task switching decreases • Stress reduces • Face-to-face communication increases • Not clear of its effect on productivity 26

  27. The burden falls on the user to integrate their work that is fragmented over time and space!

  28. Thanks • To our informants • To the National Science Foundation award CNS-0937060to the CRA for the Computing Innovation Fellows Project • To the U.S. Army Natick R, D & E Center 28

  29. In collaboration with… Steve Voida Armand Cardello Victor Gonzalez Norman Su Justin Harris Laura Dabbish

  30. In the media BBC Radio interview. May 15, 2012. The New York Times. Taking e-mail vacations can reduce stress, study says. May 4, 2012. National Public Radio (NPR). Marketplace Tech Report. Broadcast May 4, 2012. The Atlantic. Study of the Day: Email Breaks at Work Reduce Stress, Improve Productivity. May 9, 2012. Huffington Post. Taking a break from work email could help curb stress: Study. May 7, 2012 U.S. News & World Report. An 'Email Vacation' Could Save Your Health. May 11, 2012. Los Angeles Times. You knew this: Work emails are bad for your health, study finds. May 3, 2012. The Atlantic. The Latest 'Ordinary Thing That Will Probably Kill You'? Email. May 4, 2012. ABC Radio Australia. No work email access = less stress, better focus. May 7, 2012. New York Daily News. Having a stressful moment? Turn off email. May 9, 2012. The Globe and Mail. Is it possible to check e-mail just twice a day? May 13, 2012. Seattle Times. Letting go of emails is good for you. May 4, 2012.

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