The key might not be more communication but be more information (supporting the “radical transparency” idea). The less we need to ask to know what someone is doing, the less we need to create interruptions: more context, less content?

I shouldn’t have said “specialization increases coordination costs”; in fact the whole reason that specializing (i.e. shedding things you’re not the best at) is productive is because coordination costs are now much lower (as you point out).

What I do mean to say is that the coordination among specialists in a network is a vital talent, arguably one of only two necessary “core competencies” (the other being: the thing you actual specialize in)

Confused yet?

re: d) radical transparency

What I’m getting at is leveraging cheap information to put additional pressure on employees to do their job, without any additional work from management.

If management flipped a switch, and every singly thing that an EE wrote or worked on was completely visible to everyone else in the firm, EE’s would have a very strong incentive to work harder (because they don’t want to be humiliated).

Dark, but likely. The socialtext signals thing kind of gets at this…

a) Specialization seems right. The work created by the emergence of networked communication devices demands specialists.

b) I wonder if specialization has to increase coordination costs. I think that was more true for industrial media. I think social media tools offer specialists the ability to be just as connected to other specialists as I am with the employees I work with at Voce, who are located mostly in the Bay Area with a few more who are remote like me.

c) Love your thought about social norms needing to come from execs on how to use these new tools. It would be awesome to see a book of social media etiquette come from an influential exec!!

d) I’m beginning to wonder if radical transparency is required because as a society, our knowledge of how to use these new communication tools and the interaction protocols that come along with them is in its infancy. I have a feeling some transparency will stick around and some will go away once we understand all of this better. Transparency that provides visibility that helps with coordination and provides context definitely helps with productivity. Flattened chains of communication that allows unstructured engagement across the org chart, while honest, doesn’t seem to provide productive value. I’m just starting to think about this, so I could be off base

a) simplify and specialize your business (or job desc); specialization = focus = shrinking the domain of things that qualify as “justifiably on-topic”
b) if we accept a), specialization inevitably leads to increased coordination costs as we must interface with other specialists in our firm/business network.
c) social norms are going to cut it in terms of deciding when to email/IM/call, etc. I think there should be more leadership from executives/etc on this.
d) radical transparency within the firm…not sure what all the downsides to this are, but ultimately I can imagine that it’d be beneficial for everyone to be able to see what everyone else did all day/how they spent their time.

“D” is mostly about designing incentive structures so that productivity can be shaped and management can be scaled…

When I use the word distraction, I’m referring to time lost parsing messages that in the end didn’t apply to you, turned out not to be important, and/or could have had better word economy.

This is different from prioritization, which is concerned with the order that tasks be completed. Managers would use the word distraction to describe tasks that are being done out of order, but that’s not the activity that’s killing 28% of our day. To me, the criteria for defining something as distracting comes down to whether or not you felt your time was wasted when it was over.

I am a firm believer that distractions are necessary. It lets your mind take a break and I think makes your work better when you are focused. Now of course there is a limit but it’s one of those things that I think a person needs to figure out for themselves. If i wasn’t getting distracted by email I would find something else to distract me.

Jared
my twitter account - jotoole4

I figure email is like postal mail, same difference, they both deliver packages and/or writing that takes consideration and time. If someone needs me immediately and badly, they can call on the phone (IM works, D Twitter is better, phone is best).

If you try to constantly keep up with email, then 28% of your day isn’t the only you’ll loose, your sanity will be next. Just turn it off.