Trends

Study Finds IM Users Are More Productive

posted by Dan Baker @ June 11th, 2008

My day is plagued with frequent interruptions. Someone knocking at my door, phoning, emailing or just jumping into my office shouting “YAHTZEE!”. I get calls from vendors (straight to voice mail), coworkers, clients and occasionally friends, so why would I add yet another intrusion into my already hectic day? According to recent findings published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication it turns out Instant Messaging (IM) applications actually improve productivity.

The following four hypotheses were tested and confirmed:

1. IM users will report lower levels of disruptive interruption than will non-users.
2. IM users will have the same overall level of work communication as will non-users.
3. IM users will engage in more frequent computer-mediated work communication than will non-users.
4. IM users will engage in more frequent computer-mediated personal communication than will non-users.

Increased communication. That’s a good thing. Less disruptive interruptions? Also good. At Avicom we have instituted company Skype accounts for voice, IM and video. Since I work at our downtown and corporate offices, being a click away from my team is indispensable. And I can Skype into meetings for face-to-face conversation. Plus it’s kind of like The Jetsons (minus the jetpacks and robot maids).

What corporate communications tools do you use for IM? How do you better manage interruptions and work-related communications? If you’re not using an Instant Messaging application, maybe it’s time to take one for a test drive. Want to chat about it? Skype me at dan.baker.avicom

Related tags: IM • skype • technology

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