Dear K-Loggers,

Here is some thinking on communications efficiency.

Time spent.

20 phone calls: A day (including voice mail tag).
200 e-mails: 3-4 hours (relevant e-mails only, including inefficient
repetitive replies due to a lack of viewable archiving).
50 K-logs with 10 posts a day (500 entries): 20 minutes to scan. 20
minutes to post responses.

Finding information.

Phone calls: Limited to voice mail inbox. No record of previous
conversations. Limited to personal interactions.
E-mail: Limited to personal e-mail only. No public archive. Most e-mail
tools have horribly slow search features.
K-Logs: Internet search (Google on the Web or Intranet) extremely fast.
Leverages the contributions of the entire corporation.

Departing employees.

Phone calls: Lost.
E-mail: Lost.
K-logs: Archived for posterity.

I think what we are developing here is an efficiency hierarchy of
communication. For sharing knowledge with a large group of constantly
shifting individuals; K-Logs win hands down. For introductions (invitations
to further interaction) and ongoing interactions with specific individuals,
e-mail works great. For immediate resolution of a complicated situation,
use the phone.

Sincerely,

John Robb
http://jrobb.userland.com