WebWorker Daily has an interesting post about research on effectively multitasking when asynchronous collaboration tools, such as email, ostensibly create a distraction. The research looked at productivity at a mid-size executive recruitment firm over 5 years, detailing project and individual performance based on metrics such as project completion rates and revenue. WebWorker Daily's Anne Zelenka lists 5 methods to help effectively multi-task and collaborate.
The key elements of the tips include some obvious tricks, find the right number of projects to work on over weeks and months, emails should be short and focused, check and respond to email at periodic intervals. Less obvious tips include having a diverse group of email contacts and don't rely on email too much, use other collaborative tools such as databases to find information other people have already captured.
In the "Ideas Whose Time Has Passed" department, Business 2.0 has a story about FlyLite, a company that provides baggage delivery services for harried travelers. The premise of the business is that time is wasted standing in baggage check-in and claim lines. Hello, time, money and energy are wasted traveling to the airport, getting on the plane, flying, getting to the destination and revisiting the process for the return flight. Back in the early 90s I worked with someone that would ship all his cloths and collateral home from a trade show via FedEx so he could fly light on the way home -- another waste of money and jet fuel.
Michael Caton, Collaboration Evangelist, WebEx
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