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% 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-…
