The impact of organizational information overload on leaders: Making knowledge work productive in the 21st century

Information overload is a phenomenon that emerged in the 1990's as the use of information and technology grew exponentially. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of information overload on managers; to discover strategies that will assist leaders in managing the phenomenon; and to inform theory and practice in the field of human-information interaction. In order to fully understand the problem, the impact of information overload was assessed in a healthcare setting. Five contributing factors identified by Eppler and Mengis (2004) were assessed. They include: (1) the characteristics of the information we are required to process; (2) the types of tasks we perform with the information we receive; (3) the technology we use to assist us in performing those tasks; (4) personal or human factors that help or hinder our ability to manage information; and (5) organizational factors that impact our effectiveness.;Data was gathered and promising solutions were identified utilizing a participative action research process. Participants utilized an information overload intensity scale to evaluate the daily impact of information on their lives; reflective journals; and information, task and technology logs to document their daily practices. The data showed information overload impacts managers differently. It was also noted that the role of a manager has changed as they spend more time managing information and technology; and less time managing people.;The organizational environment was identified as the leading contributor to information overload. Many solutions to information overload have been recommended in the literature; however, the solutions fall short of solving the problem. The findings of this research suggest organizational information overload must be addressed by taking a systems theory approach to fundamentally rethinking the business practices of our organizations in order to make knowledge work more productive in the 21st Century.