Notifications can have a huge impact on your team’s productivity. While technology is amazing and notifications can be used to improve communication, they can also kill workplace momentum and make your office a less efficient machine. By identifying problematic notifications and eliminating them at the source, you can streamline your entire operation.
When it comes down to it, effective workplace management is about eliminating unnecessary components in order to maximize the “flow”. This elusive concept was identified by a psychologist in 1975 as a way to define that deep sense of immersion and focus that acts as a precursor to “getting stuff done”. When you lose interest in the rest of the world, you’re more likely to perform well with the job at hand.
Whether it’s sports results, social media messages, or stock market news, notifications are endless and overwhelming in today’s busy world. Whether a message pops up on a big screen or a little one, we have become accustomed to checking immediately just in case we miss out on something.
That’s right, when you think about it, fear of missing out (FOMO) is a big part of the problem.
Social platforms and news websites are well aware of these fears and use notifications as a way to capitalize on our endless desire for something new and our almost knee-jerk reaction to checking them.
- Executives in the “flow” are five times more productive.
- When switching tasks, it can take 23 minutes to get back to the task at hand.
- Multitasking can result in a 40% productivity loss.
As a team manager, it’s your responsibility to tune each and every person and component in order to create an efficient workplace system. Productivity standards and goals will only take you so far, you need to be active and eliminate the source of procrastination before bad habits develop.
As creatures of habit, human workers can and do develop addictive patterns over time. Once people get used to checking messages at work, they will keep indulging in that behavior until they are given a new alternative.
Recognizing the problem early is great, but it’s not enough in isolation. While you may not be popular at first, simply asking people to turn off their notifications is a great first step. Multi-tasking and procrastination are not just bad for business, they can also be incredibly frustrating for the person involved. Once people learn to focus on one job and one job only, they will feel more satisfied and may even thank you for their new zen-like work ethic.
The best advice, however, is to get people together and quit notifications as a team. When everyone understands the benefits, and no one feels like they’re missing out, you’re much more likely to create a cohesive and productive team.
About Automated Dreams
Here at Automated Dreams, we believe all entrepreneurs can grow with ease when given the right tools with the right settings of notifications for employees. Based in Portland, Oregon, we specialize in visualizing and mapping your customer journey and then helping you make it better and stronger with the right tools.