Instant Messaging – Essential business tool or time waster?
October 6, 2008 by Phil Montero · 3 Comments
I have long felt that Instant Messaging (IM) is an often overlooked tool for remote collaboration and keeping virtual teams connected. What was once a tool used by kids to chat with their friends now offers useful business features such as file transfer, video conferencing, multi-person chats, and document sharing.
For many knowledge workers IM has become a mission critical business tool, like the phone or email, for keeping in touch with team members and coworkers. However for many it is yet another digital source of interruptions that eats away at productivity when working in your virtual office.
Although it is often speculated that IM leads to increased interruptions and decreased productivity – A recent study by researchers at Ohio State University and University of California, Irvine found that workers who used instant messaging on the job reported less interruption than colleagues who did not. Read more
