IM and productivity

One of the real issues facing business currently is the rise in both the use of and the call for by employees for IM and networking solutions to be available in the work environment. Traditionally businesses and IT departments has been to limit severely in most contexts access to these technologies. however with this technology becoming an integrated part of communication solutions such as Outlook and Lotus notes and with more use of these technologies by employees outside of the workplace more people are becoming both aware of and comfortable with this technology. Two years ago talking to people in business about IM was met with quizzical looks whereas today far more people are aware of the concept behind the technology at least.

This along with the arrival in the workplace of the first generation to have grown up with IM and social networking websites as part of their day to day existence has changed the landscape. This is not to suggest that IM and social networking did not exist in some form before this current generation, far from it. IRC, bulletin boards and forum groups (essentially the precursor technologies to today’s IM and SN) have been around the very inception of the internet itself. The use of these services was not something adopted with the wider community however and in some cases use of it by the general community was discouraged by the net community. One incident which springs to mind is when dalnet IRC banned the entirety of AOL from accessing its channels because it was seen as a bad thing to have the general public, who had no real idea of the to a large extent unwritten rules and etiquette of IRC to be allowed to access it. A classic noobs v l33t stance. This again is not to say that there was and still is not some validity to the argument and stance, but that is I think a discussion for another time.

So what has driven the increase in IM and SN? To a large extent it is the idea of connectivity and the ability know, talk with and interact with people without the boundaries of distance impinging. I have people who I would consider friends and have communicated with for more than a decade that I have never met in person or have only met irregularly. Business embraces the idea of being able to be connected 24 hours a day. It is this idea of connectivity of having a constant connection to the world around us that is the driving force behind these technologies. The knowledge that the moment I land after a flight and turn on my phone that updates from my friends on twitter and facebook, feed from newservices and a variety of other services will inform me not just about major news and events, but also the minutiae of peoples live; that Barry is having coffee, Rachel is hung-over and the Ken wants to know if anyone is up for afternoon drinks is both h useful and addictive. The plethora of information that is available not just at the touch of key, but now automatically is beyond comprehension. And here in lies the problem with these new technologies how does one keep up or even get any sleeping with friends and information sources that span the globe. Who and what is important enough to be woken up by at 3am in the morning? Does using facebook during work hours enhance productivity or not? Can linkedin help you and your business grow and prosper? The answer is difficult one for every success, such as people being able to twitter friends and relations that they were okay after the LA earthquake, there are studies showing that teens are not getting enough sleep because they are facebooking and messaging until the early hours of the morning.


That is enough for now I will continue this dicussion later have fun.