This project supports teams to gain essential skills to evolve in an increasingly digitalized professional environment. During the next Luxembourg Sustainability Forum on 15 September 2020, the issues of digital well-being, collective knowledge management, and cognitive overload will be discussed with experts.  

Telework, connection, and efficiency, where to find the balance? 

Confined or in social distance, our digital tools and connection capabilities are more than ever our best allies. Not only do they allow us to maintain at least part of our professional activities, but they have also become necessary for all our formal and informal interactions, both professional and private. 

For the past year, IMS Luxembourg has been studying and raising awareness of infobesity among the companies in its network. It is a phenomenon exacerbated in particular by the digitalization of working methods, which causes an informational, communicational, and cognitive overload. If stress is not linked to the number of tools used in the workplace, it appears to be well correlated with the number of risk situations and infobesity "symptoms" to which an employee is exposed. 

For all digital tools, the number one advice is to set up the notifications yourself and cut as many as possible to protect yourself from non-urgent interruptions. This habit reduces the risk of stress by 26% and increases the potential for job satisfaction by 41%. 

What about email? 

Email is today the professional tool that most crystallizes infobesity at work. And few people make optimal use of it. Everyone has been able to develop positive uses, but there is still room for improvement in email management. Certain habits seem to save time and yet have a negative impact on employees' stress and satisfaction levels. For example, reading emails often during meals increases the risk of stress at work by 31%. It decreases the chances of being satisfied with life in general and the time available for private life (by 26% and 25% respectively). Yet it is a common practice for 37% of respondents. Conversely, systematically specifying which response is expected and within what timeframe (one-third of respondents already do this) increases the likelihood of expressing job satisfaction by 38%.` 

Already 30% of respondents indicated that they had received criticism from their circle of friends and family about their professional connection habits. To avoid a sharp increase in this percentage, IMS encourages professional organizations and employees to read the results of the barometer and to take advantage of this particular period to test some of the recommendations.  
 
The Info Flow Savvy project is co-financed by the European Social Fund, the Ministry of State via Digital Luxembourg, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social and Solidarity Economy, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Chamber of Employees. It is built in 3 stages: Knowledge, Exploration, Awareness-raising spread over two years. To meet the new organizational and individual knowledge that needs to be brought about by the increase in digital information flows, IMS offers conferences, training, webinars, and pilot projects on the phenomenon.  

More information on the Info Flow Savvy project and download the barometer: https://imslux.lu/fra/nos-activites/pole-de-specialites/21_info-flow-savvy-infobesite#presentation.