Electronic communication in the workplace: boon or bane?
Stich, J.-F. Tarafdar, M. Cooper, C. L. (2018)Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance
Abstract:
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review technostress-related challenges arising out of workplace communication, for employees and organizations, and to provide suggestions for taking these challenges on.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents an overview of current research and practice in the area of technostress-related challenges workplace communication.
Findings – Employees face technostress challenges relating to workplace communication in the form of technology overload, interruptions and work-home interferences. Organizations have to strike a balance between giving employees the technology they want and protecting them from these challenges. Several interventions to strike such balance are reviewed and commented on.
Practical implications – The paper gives practitioners an accessible overview of current research and practice in the area of technostress from workplace communication such as e-mail. A number of practical interventions are reviewed and commented on, which could help employees tackle such challenges.
Originality/value – Although this paper reviews state-of-the-art research, it is written in an accessible and practitioner-oriented style, which should be found valuable by readers with limited time but urgency to deal with technostress challenges arising out of workplace communication.