?? Keep Collaboration Tools from Sinking Your Team’s Productivity.

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By Rebecca Hinds, Paul Leonardi, Robert I. Sutton, and Federico Torreti

August 31, 2023

Are collaboration tools overwhelming your employees? If they’re constantly bouncing between pings on apps like Slack and Teams, comments on shared documents, and notifications from an array of platforms and portals, it’s time for you to intervene. Start by tackling the root cause of collaboration overload. Do an audit of your team’s tool stack, eliminating redundant and inefficient technologies and platforms. Then provide purposeful constraints. Set clear guidelines for when employees should use specific tools. This will make expectations clear, saving everyone time and energy second-guessing where to communicate—and switching back and forth between channels. For example, perhaps you mandate that Slack should only be used for time-sensitive communications requiring a quick response, or that project workflows should be centralized on one platform. It’s also crucial to encourage employees to use features like “do not disturb” and turn off notifications when they need to do deep-focus work and regain control over their attention. And finally, empower your people to reflect on their collaboration habits and raise concerns early and often.