American Management Association

Managing technostress

October 1997

Vol. 42, No. 10 Pg. 5-6

Lally, Richard

Don't let the gizmos get to you. In the future that is now, we trundle off to workplaces where we find a bevy of technological marvels - FAX machines, voice mail, e-mail, Web sites, and so on - awaiting our commands. Their creators told us that these machines-their brainchildren-would enhance our lives. If that's the case, why are so many of us suffering breakdowns or crashes on our journeys along the much-touted Information Superhighway?

Consider the following:

Item: A recent report in Information Week claims that job burnout is at an all-time high. IS managers and operators head the list of burnout candidates.

Item: A study presented at the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction cast computer slowdowns and breakdowns as leading contributions to employee stress.

Item: In a study of government employees conducted by researchers at Carleton University and the University of Western Ontario, most of the workers surveyed cited the demands placed on them via e-mail as their greatest source of stress.

Item: In last year's Reuters Business Information Survey of managers in five countries, two thirds reported that information overload led to increased tension with colleagues and diminished job satisfaction. One third of the managers cited information overload as the cause of their own ill health.

Item: Estimates put the annual price tag of stress-related ailments for U.S. corporations at $ 300 billion and rising.

Technostress, a term coined by clinical psychologist Craig Brod in 1984, is the culprit here. Brod saw technostress as "a modern disease caused by an inability to cope with the new computer technologies." Other clinical psychologists, such as Michelle Weil and Larry Rosen (authors of the new book Technostress: Coping With Technology @ Work, @ Home, and @ Play), have expanded that definition to include "any negative impact on attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, or body psychology caused directly or indirectly by technology."

Since you can't stop the advance of innovation, you and your colleagues must learn to cope. Today's managers need to develop strategies for introducing new technologies into their departments while blunting the effects of technostress.

Create an Attitude, Establish a Need

Managers are quick to extol the virtues of technology-but in too many instances, it's a case of "do as I say, not as I do." A Roper Starch Worldwide study revealed that the majority of American managers suffer from a "technological knowledge gap." Though they have computers on their desks, they rarely turn them on. Because many can't type, they can't access even simple word processing programs.

Imagine their reaction when confronted by the World Wide Web. For them, cyberspace is an ominous black hole. Their reluctance to embrace any new gadget sends a message that pervades their departments. When managers take a hands-off approach to laptops or email systems, they can't empathize with employees who encounter difficulties with technology. The simplest and most effective way to signal confidence in a new technology is to use it.

Before limbering your fingers for a recital on a keyboard, however, you must establish whether that cutting-edge piece of hardware you're about to order even belongs in your department. Buying new technology is often a reflexive response; a competitor has just installed the latest wonder machine, so now you must have one (or two or ten)-and of course, yours must be bigger and faster. But before swearing your loyalty to this new technology, you have to ask yourself, "Do we really need this?" Don't spare an inch of office space for any system if it doesn't increase your department's productivity. To establish a system if it fulfills a need, elicit the opinions of everyone who will work with it. Do everything you can to custom-fit the system to their requirements. Never introduce any technology without first warning employees and getting their input.

Acknowledge Their Fears

Input is critical because many employees perceive technology as a threat. They believe it devalues their own creativity and critical thinking. An employee's perhaps legitimate concern that some machine will make him or her obsolete is a leading, underlying cause of technostress. You need to allay employees' fears. Present any shift to a new technology as a learning opportunity-a chance for workers to acquire additional skills and hence greater value.

It's also important to allow employees ample time to master new systems. Most employees will be ill at ease when they first confront a new technology. You can alleviate any distress by making it clear that they're not alone-that even you share their fears and even their resistance. But you should also follow through by offering comprehensive training and ongoing support. Your company should have an on-site help desk devoted solely to addressing technological problems. If there's no formal help desk, tap into the talents of those people who seem most comfortable with new technology.

Reprinted from Nexis