There is a revolution in how professionals are multitasking, and in the productivity gains that can be achieved through a focused investment on technology to facilitate it.
INTRODUCTION
Traditional multi-tasking in the workplace involved a person undertaking several parallel, but similar, tasks. They would have email and web browser windows open, for example. Or they would be working on a presentation at the same time they were analysing a document.
Professionals were encouraged to work this way, because theoretically they would get more done by running tasks simultaneously and in parallel. The endgame to multi-tasking was productivity, but science didn’t support that perception. Studies showed it had the opposite effect, and found that people could lose up to 40 per cent of their productivity performing what was considered “multi-tasking”, but was in reality taskshifting (moving rapidly from one task to the next).1 The constant switching between tasks meant they had a more shallow engagement with what they were doing, and the time it took to shift from one task to another would rapidly add up over the course of a day.
Multi-tasking is impossible to escape today, however the modern computing environment is designed to be optimised around enabling rich, simultaneous interactivity. This can be called multi-tasking 2.0. It leverages the benefits offered by advanced computer hardware and peripherals – the PC ecosystem – thereby, enhancing performance of both endpoint devices and employees.
For businesses, achieving multi-tasking 2.0 is an exercise in properly leveraging endpoint device hardware.
This white paper looks at how multi-tasking 2.0 can improve the office environment and reduce risks to employee health and enhance productivity. It also highlights how to achieve a true multi-tasking environment by rolling out the right hardware and peripherals. 1
1 https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/brainwise/201209/the-true-cost-…
