Information access and flow LO11516

LonBadgett@aol.com
Thu, 19 Dec 1996 23:11:09 -0500

Replying to LO11500 --

Rol says:

>I get 50-80 messages a day not counting those from the LO. In my
>company, I hear that my experience is not unusual. At that level, I can't
>absorb all of them, let alone answer all of them, or have a thoughtful
>response. This is not really communication, nor does it encourage
>communication.

This sounds familiar. In radio communication sender and receiver have to
maintain a strict set of protocols so that each knows who is speaking
next. It is terribly frustrating when a novice begins transmitting in the
middle of someone else's conversation.

I see the same process at work in E-Mail. When I recognize that clients
do not have adequate "sending" skills I employ a whole series of e-mail
lessons to help each user learn how not to overload the others. There are
five messages just on using the subject line. For example:

>The following subject lines describe the same message.

>1. Re: Work

>2. 10 schedule problems you asked about - Immediate reply requested

>Whenever possible, use your subject line to completely describe the message
>and what you expect in return. The reader can scan a subject line a lot
>quicker than he or she can read an entire message.

--
Lon Badgett
lonbadgett@aol.com
"The problem with most people is that they can't see they have problems."
Emil Gobersneke
 

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>