How Information Gridlock Creates Atrophy

If information isn’t getting where it needs to be in your organization, read on.

Imagine this situation. You’re stuck at an airport during a freak winter snowstorm. You’re scheduled to fly out in two hours, but there’s nobody at the gate to answer questions. Frustrated, you call their customer service line, provide your information, and are told that they’ll get back with you as soon as they know anything more about your flight. You hang up, and idly check the airline’s app, but there’s nothing new there either. Finally, someone from the airline gets to the gate, but they don’t know when your flight will take off, the answers to your questions, or really, anything at all about you and what you’ve been asking others within the company.

This incredibly frustrating experience is brought to you by information bottlenecks—gridlock within an organization that doesn’t allow information to get where it needs to go. And as you can see, it can significantly impact major portions of your business.

That was just one example of information gridlock and how it can affect your organization. And though not all problems will directly affect customers, they all have a negative impact. This gridlock can have a cascading effect throughout your entire organization, as bad decisions pile up and time is wasted. Departments become siloed. Productivity is lost and efficiency declines. The result is atrophy, as your organization slowly paralyzes itself from within as result of this gridlock. And while information gridlock may start as a small problem, it can spread like a virus across your entire organization.”

What’s worse is that while this gridlock can be a root cause of business atrophy, it’s very difficult to pin down as the actual source of the problem unless you know what you’re looking for. This sort of atrophy tends to happen slowly, so it’s rare that someone pays attention until the problem has become large enough to slow down numerous business processes. But when it’s a big problem, many organizations tend to treat the immediate symptoms of the problem, rather than finding the root cause. So while information gridlock may start as a small problem, it can spread like a virus across your entire organization.

Where does this gridlock occur? According to IDC research commissioned by Ricoh, there are six major areas where information gridlock can afflict your organization. Three of these are:

Collaboration tools

Despite the fact most organizations recognize the value of immediate and effective collaboration, many organizations aren’t providing their workers with the collaboration tools they need to be successful. Just a quarter of all organizations are supplying collaboration tools to their employees.

Mobile support

We live in an interconnected world becoming increasingly mobile, and we’ve long talked about the importance of information mobility. But despite these trends, just 29 percent of workers can access core enterprise software applications on their mobile devices. If organizations do not support mobile, their workers simply will not have the sort of anytime, anywhere access to information they need to be most effective at their jobs.

Silos

One of the more interesting facts found in the IDC research was that while half of all workers need access to six or more information repositories to do their jobs, just 18 percent are able to search across those repositories. Think back to the example of the airport. The agent at the gate didn’t have the same information as the people on the customer service line who didn’t have the same information as what was input into the airline’s app. Now imagine that in your organization, repeated again and again.

A siloed organization lacking effective collaboration tools and support for mobile is simply not an organization that will survive for long in the new world of work. To learn more about these areas and how your organization can address these issues for future success, we’ve prepared a guidebook for business leaders on how to break through information gridlock.

Unfortunately, information gridlock can affect a number of additional areas within your organization. These include:

Workflow processes

Unoptimized processes are a major contributor to information gridlock. Broken processes don’t just cause delays, however—they can be a serious risk and liability hazard to your organization. Three quarters of workers have already experienced serious compliance issues as a result of these broken processes. But despite the danger, just 41 percent of organizations have automated most of all of their workflows.

Trapped information

Paper is one of the least efficient means of transmitting information, but if yours is like most organizations, you still have a significant amount of information—especially historical records and other such data—still stored on paper, where it’s extremely difficult to access and use. This is a bottleneck that can only be addressed via digitization, a strong records management program, and a commitment to an organizational search strategy that meets the needs of your workers.

Institutional knowledge

The workforce is changing, and as older, more established workers retire, they’re taking a lot of critical business information with them. If they aren’t passing this knowledge along, you’re losing valuable insights into nearly every aspect of your organization

Keep in mind information flow within an organization can encompass everything from your customers’ private data to the correct method of using a particular billing software. It can be big or small, and without a plan to break through the gridlock that traps your information and prevents you from achieving your business goals, you may find your organization stuck in neutral—or worse. But it doesn’t have to be that way. After you’ve read through part I of the guide above, be sure to check out Part II, which will teach you how to better optimize processes, access information in any format, and build a culture of knowledge-sharing, so that key business data never walks out the front door, never to return.

And that’s where we can help. Learn more at www.stratixsystems.com  or call us toll-free 1-800-444-2943

About Stratix Systems

With offices in Reading, Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia and Central and Northern New Jersey, Stratix Systems is one of the region’s leading technology solutions partners —with the people, resources and experience to deliver the IT, content/document management and imaging support you need: where, when and how you need it. In fact, very few providers in the region can match the vast array of total business solutions and responsive service available from Stratix Systems. It’s no wonder why we are the partner-of-choice for over 4,500 organizations throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Have a question? Get an answer. Our experienced systems experts would be happy to answer your questions, help you explore your options and develop a customized plan for you. Learn more at www.stratixsystems.com  or call us toll-free 1-800-444-2943.

This post originally appeared on WorkIntelligent.ly, authored by Ricoh USA’s Deb Scifres.