Impact of Information Overload on Businesses

Anything that is more than necessary becomes problematic for us in the long run. Likewise, information glut is becoming a menace in this age of internet and technology. Every day we are exposed to a colossal amount of information through social media, the internet and other traditional and modern ways. Though, this information is a valuable commodity but over exposure is not always worthwhile. Let’s discuss how all this is impinging businesses. 

Organizations around the world are facing the challenge of information overload. They focus on enhancing their employee experience by over burdening them with information or data which they have to process. This in turn not just affects their health, mental and physical well-being but also their performance at work because they feel pressurized. If companies keep on nudging their employees, then attracting or retaining the most proficient employees will be an issue in the long run. Business's success and reputation will also be at stake.

What is Information Overload?

In business terms, information overload is a term that refers to the massive influx or flow of irrelevant information among the staff members or employees. This negatively affects their productivity and acts as a barrier in the path of innovation, since they have to process and deal with this overwhelming data on a daily basis. This unnecessary and poor quality information which is shared with the employees is mostly discarded by them and most of them hardly read it. There are several reasons that collectively lead to this issue. Mostly, the employees are not given enough time to process and go through the information they receive. Sometimes, it happens as a result of lack of alignment among the members which ultimately affects employees, your team and the business on the whole.

The Impact

There are many drawbacks of information abundance. Around 65% of the managers expressed that their personal and professional life and relationships were perturbed by the workload. They faced issues such as sleeplessness due to stress and anxiety. 42% of the managers belonging to the IT niche said that they were bombarded with data and information through multiple communication channels, some could not understand its significance while others were unable to determine which information was accurate. On average, employees spend 2.5 hours daily to filter out the necessary information that they are looking for. It wastes a lot of time (one third of their time) as they have to visit other departments to gather the information. Sometimes, they have to browse their mailbox in order to complete their task. Ultimately, they are unable to make decisions in a timely manner, feel stressed and burned out. Also, they end up making more mistakes out of befuddlement. 

A company will never be able to make outstanding teams with ineffective internal communication. Each member's work is interconnected so they all must remain in the loop. Overload of information along with miscommunications means overlapping of tasks and employees might miss their important deadlines. With lower employee performance because of misalignment results in poor customer service. Your IT department would not be able to come up with new products, features and services on time. Work atmosphere is largely affected as screwed up employees often start to search for a new job or share about their bad experience outside the company.

Thus, companies should treat their employees as their asset and focus on ways to attract and retain them. Efficient communication channels must be used and there should be a central place so that your remote and onsite employees can remain updated about the company’s latest news.