Digital fatigue: how to keep your teams engaged and productive

Digital transformation is turning companies upside down. The adoption of digital tools is accelerating. In this context, employees must constantly adapt to new software. As a result, they are subjected to an ever-increasing information and cognitive load. This intellectual overload has a name: digital fatigue. This silent epidemic has a cost for companies. So, how can companies combat this evil of the century? In this article, we'll look at some of the solutions that exist to safeguard employee well-being in the digital age.

What is digital fatigue?

Digital fatigue is defined as physical and mental exhaustion linked to excessive exposure to digital technologies (screens, computers, etc.). In concrete terms, it occurs when an individual makes intensive use of technological tools in his or her work or personal life. This excessive interaction with machines leads to cognitive saturation. The brain must constantly receive and process multiple information, which overtaxes it. The result is a feeling of overwhelm, an inability to absorb new data. Digital fatigue has many different symptoms. These include, in no particular order, concentration and memory problems, irritability, headaches, hypersensitivity to noise, anxiety, sleep disturbances and reduced motivation. Eventually, these symptoms can lead to burn-out. 

On the corporate side, this phenomenon has a negative impact on employee productivity and creativity. When employees are burnt out, they make more mistakes, find it harder to make decisions or come up with innovative ideas. Digital fatigue also affects social interaction within teams. Exhausted individuals communicate less, isolate themselves or become irritable. This is detrimental to cohesion and collective efficiency.

This silent evil undermines employee performance, degrades the working atmosphere and can even lead to burn-out. The stakes are therefore high for human resources departments.

What can you do to combat digital fatigue?

Streamline workflows

Constantly switching between email and video-conferencing software, storage space and office suites... This software fragmentation consumes a lot of mental energy. So it makes sense to rationalize digital work environments to avoid digital fatigue. How can we do this? By adopting "all-in-one" solutions that centralize several functionalities. Take Microsoft 365, for example. This suite brings together email, videoconferencing, file storage and the Office suite in one place. In concrete terms, a sales representative can directly place a Teams call to a customer from Outlook without changing the interface. Or instantly share a Word document stored on OneDrive during a Teams meeting. This type of facilitating hub makes day-to-day digital interactions on screens more fluid. No more time-consuming toggling back and forth between email, cloud storage, spreadsheets... Everything is interconnected within a unified ecosystem.

This software convergence offers several benefits in terms of productivity and digital fatigue:

• Optimized workflows save time;
• Reducing the cognitive load associated with the switching context ;
• Strengthening cross-functional collaboration ;
• Limiting application silos.

Of course, this kind of global solution requires support for teams in terms of adoption. Training and change management are essential to ensure a smooth transition to these new working environments.

Improving the employee experience

Certain key moments in employees' careers expose them more than usual to the risk of digital fatigue. This is the case when taking up a new position (onboarding), or when implementing new digital tools (change management). During these critical phases, the employee must both assimilate a great deal of information about the company and master new software solutions. This intense cognitive load can quickly become overwhelming, especially when telecommuting. It is therefore essential to adopt the right reflexes to successfully integrate new employees and support teams during digital transformations. As far as onboarding is concerned, it's advisable to focus on a precise digital path: targeted training materials, intuitive virtual tours of the premises, e-learning modules adapted to the pace of each individual... As far as change management is concerned, IT departments benefit from involving their staff upstream, and providing them with in-depth training in the new tools. 

In both cases, it's also a good idea to appoint field representatives who can provide day-to-day support to employees. These facilitators smooth out the adoption of solutions, and bring to the surface the friction points that need to be addressed as a matter of priority, in order to prevent potential digital fatigue. By taking care of employees during these sensitive phases, companies effectively prevent the risk of digital burnout. They also lay the foundations for a more collaborative, creative and fulfilling work environment.

Thanks to its innovative K-NOW and K-STUDIO platforms, which combine learning and training on a daily basis, Knowmore ensures that usersassimilation digital solutions over the long term!

Investing in corporate culture

By isolating teams, teleworking can increase stress and anxiety among employees. In the long run, these negative effects feed employee digital fatigue. 

As a result, it's vital to cultivate teleworkers' sense of belonging to the company. How can we do this? By setting up virtual rituals within departments:

• Organize an informal video chat every Monday morning to enable everyone to share their weekend.
• Set up an instant chat channel so that employees can easily exchange information on a daily basis.
• Set up a monthly video meeting with the manager to take stock of everyone's feelings.
• Offer regular team-building activities (without screens!) to strengthen the cohesion of dispersed teams: afterworks, yoga, culinary challenges...

Last but not least, it is equally important to monitor the digital adoption of applications, in order to understand how employees are actually using them.

"Digital fatigue, resulting from excessive interaction with screens, compromises business productivity. Despite this, solutions are available to optimize work environments, support employees, and strengthen team cohesion. Beyond these measures, the preservation of spaces conducive to slowness and reflection is a crucial necessity to counter the damaging effects of omnipresent urgency and information overload. By adopting these approaches, companies can mitigate the impacts of digital fatigue and foster a more balanced and resilient working environment."

Faced with the growing challenges of digital fatigue, it is essential for companies to rely on the right partners. As an expert in the digital adoption of business and collaborative applications, Knowmore assists IT and HR departments with change management. 

Thanks to its innovative platforms combining learning and daily training, Knowmore ensures the lastingassimilation of digital solutions by users. This helps to streamline workflows, unite dispersed teams and, ultimately, boost productivity and employee well-being.

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