Much has changed about information technology, which has both good and bad effects. The continuous development of technology, such as the introduction of desktop alert software, has brought great improvements in the way people communicate. There are various ways and channels of communication, allowing people to connect and interact according to their own preferences. However, this same technology has caused an incessant flow of information that has led to a decrease in people’s attention span, which is not really long, to begin with.
Look, a Goldfish
A study conducted by Microsoft yielded the finding that the human being’s attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2002, to 8 seconds in 2012. The cause: smartphones and similar gadgets that paved the way for information overload. Some people consider it funny that humans are now less likely to pay attention than a goldfish, whose attention span is 9 seconds long.
What’s not funny is that shortened attention spans are getting in the way of workplace productivity. If you are a business owner, this is a serious matter that you need to address, since every second you lose is a cost you cannot take back.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye
Gone are the days when written announcements and directions are noticed and heeded, in the same way that a strong, powerful pitch is enough to get a salesman survive and exceed his daily quota. If you are to gain and maintain attention, you need something better than just words.
How will you catch and focus your employees’ attention? This is a challenge all business leaders like you face. Unlike when paper ads and bulletin boards were enough to draw attention, these days call for a more aggressive approach to gaining attention through relevant content and eye-catching graphics. What is a business leader like you to do? Use desktop alert software.
Desktop alert software allows you to deliver notifications that will surely get the attention of your target recipients and drive them to action. However, just having a notification system is not enough; you must also do the following in order to secure employees’ attention:
1. Be ubiquitous. Inform whenever and wherever you can, but do not be overbearing. The key to reaching your employees without losing their focus is to deliver your message at the right time, when your target audience is most likely to pay attention. Since there is no prearranged time that guarantees this, your message must be everywhere – on digital signage screens, on headlines in your newsletter, on their mobile phones and on their desktops. Doing this will ensure that you will catch your employees’ wandering eye when they are not too occupied with other things – maybe during their break, while they are on the way to the conference room, or as they are getting ready to start their workday.
2. Cut through the distractions. Gently notifying employees about policy changes and company news through the above-mentioned methods non-distracting methods is fine, since your aim is to inform. However, urgent matters need urgent methods, especially during emergencies. For situations as such, you must use desktop alert software that will inform your staff in a way that cannot be disregarded. Through this tool, you can alert your employees about the nature of the situation and what needs to be done. A mass notification software will enable you to reach your intended recipients regardless of their location, since it can broadcast alert messages on workstation PCs, mobile devices, digital signage screens and other channels.
Getting through to your staff is, indeed, a challenge, but framing the right approach and using the right kind of alert software like DeskAlerts will help you communicate the most important information to the rest of your organization.
