The rise of collaboration tools like Zoom, Teams, and Slack has positively and negatively impacted our productivity. On the one hand, these tools have made communication and teamwork more effortless and accessible than ever before, enabling faster problem-solving and making the work process more efficient. On the other hand, the constant interruptions and lack of clarity on priorities can lead to decreased focus, decreased ability to prioritize, and an overwhelming feeling of never achieving anything.
As per some recent polls we ran on LinkedIn, the average time spent in meetings has doubled, and some even tripled since 2020, with 40% of people consuming 3-6 hours and 28% spending more than 6 hours in online meetings. Although the physical constraint on available meeting rooms has been removed with the use of online collaboration tools, the abundance of meetings and constant interruptions can lead to a feeling of never being able to complete anything and being constantly overwhelmed.
Leaders’ role is to help their teams create structure, routines, and habits to provide clarity and guidance on what to focus on. To mitigate the negative impacts of collaboration tools, we experimented with and created a company-wide communication guideline to establish expectations and ensure respectful communication.
Internal Slack is an asynchronous collaboration channel where questions and ideas can be shared, and people can respond when they are available and engaged. The expectation is that when something is posted on Slack, there is no immediate requirement for a reaction, especially outside of business hours. This allows team members to work on a problem at their own pace and respond when available without feeling the pressure of constant interruptions.
Emails are to be used to formally communicate with clients and vendors and are only sent during business hours. There are tools available to schedule emails to be sent at a specific time, allowing team members to compose emails at their preferred time, but they will only be delivered during business hours.
External Slack/Teams channels follow the same principles as internal Slack channels, with communication expected to be respectful and limited to business hours. There may be exceptions, such as critical releases or incidents, but these should be the exception, not the norm.
Internal and external group WhatsApp/Signal should only be used when immediate action is required. For example, to alert a client of an event that occurred and the steps being taken or when further collaboration is necessary.
By creating clear expectations and fostering respectful communication, we hope to harness these tools’ power to improve our work processes and deliver the highest business value first.
Published by Gideon de Swardt
I have over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services industry in North America, Europe and Africa. My core values of integrity, quality and passion have enabled me to help build successful businesses.
View more posts
The rise of collaboration tools like Zoom, Teams, and Slack has positively and negatively impacted our productivity. On the one hand, these tools have made communication and teamwork more effortless and accessible than ever before, enabling faster problem-solving and making the work process more efficient. On the other hand, the constant interruptions and lack of clarity on priorities can lead to decreased focus, decreased ability to prioritize, and an overwhelming feeling of never achieving anything.
As per some recent polls we ran on LinkedIn, the average time spent in meetings has doubled, and some even tripled since 2020, with 40% of people consuming 3-6 hours and 28% spending more than 6 hours in online meetings. Although the physical constraint on available meeting rooms has been removed with the use of online collaboration tools, the abundance of meetings and constant interruptions can lead to a feeling of never being able to complete anything and being constantly overwhelmed.
Leaders’ role is to help their teams create structure, routines, and habits to provide clarity and guidance on what to focus on. To mitigate the negative impacts of collaboration tools, we experimented with and created a company-wide communication guideline to establish expectations and ensure respectful communication.
Internal Slack is an asynchronous collaboration channel where questions and ideas can be shared, and people can respond when they are available and engaged. The expectation is that when something is posted on Slack, there is no immediate requirement for a reaction, especially outside of business hours. This allows team members to work on a problem at their own pace and respond when available without feeling the pressure of constant interruptions.
Emails are to be used to formally communicate with clients and vendors and are only sent during business hours. There are tools available to schedule emails to be sent at a specific time, allowing team members to compose emails at their preferred time, but they will only be delivered during business hours.
External Slack/Teams channels follow the same principles as internal Slack channels, with communication expected to be respectful and limited to business hours. There may be exceptions, such as critical releases or incidents, but these should be the exception, not the norm.
Internal and external group WhatsApp/Signal should only be used when immediate action is required. For example, to alert a client of an event that occurred and the steps being taken or when further collaboration is necessary.
By creating clear expectations and fostering respectful communication, we hope to harness these tools’ power to improve our work processes and deliver the highest business value first.
Published by Gideon de Swardt
I have over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services industry in North America, Europe and Africa. My core values of integrity, quality and passion have enabled me to help build successful businesses.
View more posts
The rise of collaboration tools like Zoom, Teams, and Slack has positively and negatively impacted our productivity. On the one hand, these tools have made communication and teamwork more effortless and accessible than ever before, enabling faster problem-solving and making the work process more efficient. On the other hand, the constant interruptions and lack of clarity on priorities can lead to decreased focus, decreased ability to prioritize, and an overwhelming feeling of never achieving anything.
As per some recent polls we ran on LinkedIn, the average time spent in meetings has doubled, and some even tripled since 2020, with 40% of people consuming 3-6 hours and 28% spending more than 6 hours in online meetings. Although the physical constraint on available meeting rooms has been removed with the use of online collaboration tools, the abundance of meetings and constant interruptions can lead to a feeling of never being able to complete anything and being constantly overwhelmed.
Leaders’ role is to help their teams create structure, routines, and habits to provide clarity and guidance on what to focus on. To mitigate the negative impacts of collaboration tools, we experimented with and created a company-wide communication guideline to establish expectations and ensure respectful communication.
Internal Slack is an asynchronous collaboration channel where questions and ideas can be shared, and people can respond when they are available and engaged. The expectation is that when something is posted on Slack, there is no immediate requirement for a reaction, especially outside of business hours. This allows team members to work on a problem at their own pace and respond when available without feeling the pressure of constant interruptions.
Emails are to be used to formally communicate with clients and vendors and are only sent during business hours. There are tools available to schedule emails to be sent at a specific time, allowing team members to compose emails at their preferred time, but they will only be delivered during business hours.
External Slack/Teams channels follow the same principles as internal Slack channels, with communication expected to be respectful and limited to business hours. There may be exceptions, such as critical releases or incidents, but these should be the exception, not the norm.
Internal and external group WhatsApp/Signal should only be used when immediate action is required. For example, to alert a client of an event that occurred and the steps being taken or when further collaboration is necessary.
By creating clear expectations and fostering respectful communication, we hope to harness these tools’ power to improve our work processes and deliver the highest business value first.
Published by Gideon de Swardt
I have over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services industry in North America, Europe and Africa. My core values of integrity, quality and passion have enabled me to help build successful businesses.
View more posts
