Handling information--avoiding overload. (Checklist 150).

This checklist is for those who are concerned with the ever increasing amount of information they are required to handle and describes a structured approach to controlling information overload.

In a climate of uncertainty where it is difficult to distinguish a real opportunity from a red herring, there are twin problems in restricting the amount of information to a level that is manageable, and in extracting any gems from the mass available. Too much information causes anxiety, stress and inefficiency; insufficient information leads to ineffective decision making, management by guesswork, even stagnation and decline.

Controlling information flow requires a highly disciplined and consistent approach to the processes of selection and evaluation.

Management Standards

This checklist has relevance to the MSC National Occupational Standards for Management: Key Role D--Manage Information.

Definition

For the purposes of this checklist, `information' is used in its widest sense and includes both written and oral, formal and informal communication.

To effectively handle information overload, many management skills are required. These, along with the organisation and delivery of information are covered in Related checklists.

Action checklist

1. Know yourself

Get to grips with how much new or continuing information you can cope with at any one time--people differ a lot in their capacity to handle information. Establish how you deal with the various ways information presents itself--do you write notes of conversations or do you rely on memory? Acknowledge that information may appear on demand (you look for it) or with serendipity (a colleague tells you something in passing), and that both are valid and important ways.

2. Manage your time

If information swamps you continuously, set aside an amount of time each day or week for information activities such as evaluation. Stick to the time limits you set. Think about:

* how much time is available?

* how flexible is this?

* how much time can be spent on information processing?

3. Focus on objectives

Focus on current objectives, otherwise the information you might accumulate under the umbrella of `may be useful at some time in the future' could overwhelm you from the outset. It is important to define objectives and priorities--for information purposes--in terms of `must have', `nice to have' and `not necessary for me to keep'. Concentrate on what you need to know, not on what might be nice to know. When time is pressured these objectives will contract; occasionally there will be time for them to expand.

MUSTs include those bits of information which:

* have defined objectives

* are task-oriented

* relate to needs

* fit a designated purpose

* help with knowledge and understanding to progress activities.

NICE to HAVEs include information which:

* might be useful one day

* is unsolicited and unnecessary.

NOT NECESSARYs are often obvious but also include information which:

* is easily obtainable on demand

* won't cause any damage if missed.

4. Choose access and delivery methods

Choosing access and delivery methods is important throughout any cycle of information control. The medium can influence the message, even drown it if we are not careful. All information sources consume time in different ways:

* libraries of printed materials for the selection, processing and organising of items discovered can take ages to sift and sort

* the ease of retrieval from databases or the Internet can leave you with hundreds of references which can be very time-consuming to narrow down for relevance

* Internet newsgroups which promise to provide all you need on a subject but finish up by flooding you with masses of unedited data

* a message, sent email for convenience, leaves you printing out 80 pages...

At least libraries are organised--be especially wary of the others. Choose your medium with care, otherwise you are likely to end up with too much poor-quality information which will need culling. Keep objectives and selection criteria firmly in mind. Get to know sources of information and learn how to use them; you will then be able to retrieve most information when you need it.

5. Establish selection criteria

We either deal with information immediately it arrives because it is something which enables us to further our course of action, or we:

* pass it on to someone else--this may just be passing the problem on rather than solving it, unless you know that the recipient has a need for it

* save it for a rainy day--this means that you become weighed down with clutter which takes time to organise, and may not give a profitable return (not even the largest of electronic libraries can hold everything people might need)

* get rid of it--this is often the only sensible, practical option.

Asking the following questions should help determine which of these is the best course to follow.

* Do I need this NOW? Can I use it on a current project?

* Where does this come from? Is the source reliable, reputable?

* Did I ask for it? If it hadn't arrived, would I have gone looking for it?

* Is it speculative or substantiated? Is it controversial? Is it directly about the subject in question?

* Is it worth keeping for the future? Could I get hold of it if the need arose? Would I know where to go for it?

* Is it worth passing to someone else?

* Should I keep a note of it and if so in what form?

A standard rule-of-thumb must be--don't keep useless information; quality information is everything.

6. Gain confidence in what you know

We do not know what we do not know. However, when we read new material in the hope of finding new ideas, we discover that we are aware of most of its contents and its reading has not added to the sum of our knowledge, although we do have the comfort of feeling up-to-date.

It is important to gain a picture of how often this happens, and how often something striking and worthwhile comes your way. This might provide you with your own 80-20 rule. Allied to your knowledge of proven/best/reliable/innovative sources, this may begin to cut down on the quantities of repeat information heaped on you.

7. Consult

Often a face-to-face conversation is worth a thousand memos and reports--it is a question of investing initial time to make savings later. Your colleagues are probably your best source of information, but should be supplemented by your own short-list of experts you can trust to help you cut your way through to what you really need. This may include a professional body, special library, government department, TEC or Business Link. If you want to get to grips with a subject, get hold of a summary article, digest or checklist from a reputable source.

Most organisations have `gate-keepers'--people who gather large quantities of information and are good communicators. These people can help you to sift and filter information. Find your own gate-keeper if you don't have one already.

8. Be ruthless with paperwork

* Remove your name selectively from external and internal mailing lists.

* Ask colleagues to report by exception, and then to be concise: 1-page management.

* Return unnecessary paperwork to sender, or bin it.

* Adopt a sanguine approach to computer labels addressed to a long-departed predecessor.

* If you can use someone else as a `sifter', do so--but make sure they are not overloaded too.

9. Beware the information junkie

We have all come across them--the verbose who love the sound of their own voice, who cannot restrict themselves to short, concise thoughts or words of less than four syllables and who just waffle on for the sake of exploiting otherwise invaluable oxygen and persist in long rambling sentences which make you lose track of the argument....

Such junkies become lethal on a computer network; their persistent electronic questions and answers can eat into days of your time and jam up the whole system. There is a simple solution: a one-word answer or no answer at all.

10. Be ruthless with electronic data, especially on the Internet

* Work out personal screening procedures, for example, culling by source of origin.

* Exploit software which ranks information content for relevance rather than scan through hundreds of documents.

* Don't pass on messages which `might' be of use; give them only to those who you know will be interested.

* Be wary of subscribing to too many open newsgroups, where all comments from everyone are circulated to everyone.

* Remember the delete key. With too much dross there is a swift, although final, answer.

Dos and don'ts for handling information and avoiding overload

Do

* Review priorities as circumstances change.

* Differentiate the need to, from the nice to, know.

* Focus on current objectives.

* Know your information sources.

Don't

* Become a slave to routine activities which have lost pertinence.

* Tolerate unsolicited dross.

* Deal with a piece of paper twice.

Related checklists

* Carrying out an information audit

* Report writing

* Effective business writing

* Managing your time effectively

Useful reading Handling information overload in a week, Andrea Griffiths and Bob Norton London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1999 Information management, Sally Palmer and Margaret Weaver Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, 1998 Managing information avoiding overload, Trevor Bentley London: CIMA Publishing, 1998 Managing information working smarter not harder, Hugh Garai Aldershot: Gower, 1997

Thought starters

* Does new paper go on top of old in the in-tray?

* Have you assessed the bottom-line value of the unsolicited information you receive?

* Are you clear on current information objectives?

* "The New York Times contains as much distinctive information every day as the average 17th Century person encountered in a lifetime" (The Independent, 15 October 1996, p6).

* "Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it" (Samuel Johnson).

* One in four managers suffers ill health because of the amount of information handled.

Further information

Checklists are available in the following formats:

* Individual checklists.

* A complete set of 175 on CD-ROM or in hard copy.

* Checklists with permission to photocopy.

Full details of the range of checklists which are available can be obtained from:

Lavis Marketing, 73 Lime Walk, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7AD Tel: 0845 702 3736 (local rate call) Fax: +44 1865 750079 or from Checkpoint on the Chartered Management Institute's website at www.managers.org.uk