Organizations Use RSS to Tackle Employee Information Overload

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The term information overload inevitably surfaces when employees talk about the deluge of printed materials, e-mail, voice mail and other technology-based messaging they face at work every day.

It’s refreshing to hear about companies that attempt to manage employee messaging – and RSS has great potential in this area. (If RSS is unfamiliar to you, here’s a good place to start.)

PC World highlights several companies that are using RSS to attack employee information overload. A key distinction, as the story points out, is separating the need-to-do employee tasks (those directly related to your job) from the need-to-know information (company news, HR updates and so on).

Need-to-do messages are probably best suited for e-mail, while RSS is ideal for need-to-know information.

RSS has many benefits for employee communications:

• Fewer mass e-mail blasts sent to employees
• More targeted and relevant employee communications
• Information can be delivered through secure RSS platforms to minimize IT security concerns
• Integration with intranets, employee directories and other existing systems

Two organizations mentioned in the story began their RSS initiatives with smaller pilot groups (instead of launching them to all employees). This is a great strategy – particularly in large companies.

Until RSS is more fully understood and adopted, it will always be easier for employees to continue sending mass e-mails. But over time, with the help of internal training efforts, RSS has great potential to deliver relevant messages and better manage the employee information flood.