Information flows in and out of your organization much like the tides of the ocean. However, unlike the tides, there is often a lack of periodic exactitude it sometimes comes and goes in bunches, other times you feel you've fallen off the edge of the earth. It most likely consists of many different forms unlike the ocean, where each drop of water is pretty much like any other. But, nevertheless, it still flows, and your job is to control and manage it to make it useful to you and your organization.

Depending on your type of business, and technological comfort zone, here are some of the forms of information that may wash up on your shore:

Fax a service which allows almost anyone to publish materials directly into your office.

E-mail and voice-mail great time-shifting forms of information flow, the former being text while the latter aural. You can access the information at a time of your choosing, not the sender's.

Postal service (snail-mail to those of the modern generation), the only information system which requires an outside human presence to complete the physical delivery.

Voice probably the most common and familiar and one of the hardest to control.

Video more often seen in news gathering, emergency services, financial, and police / security organizations, but is found in other areas as well: agricultural concerns watch developing weather situations, for example. (No, the administrative assistant sneaking a peak at their favorite daytime soap opera back in the mail room doesn't count here.)

EDI Electronic Data Interchange, a standardized form of exchanging data between businesses.

For the smooth and efficient working of your organization, you must be able to control and use this flow. Without some level of control, you'll find yourself quickly drowning in a tidal wave of information which will cost you both time and money and missed opportunities. Let's look at some of these information flows and see what they mean to you and your organization.

Making sense of the information is one reason why you're a successful business person. Coordinating it efficiently is another matter. It is not unusual in some businesses, to receive the same type or category of information in several formats. A small personnel agency, for example, may receive a resume by fax, e-mail, or by post. The e-mailed version may be in text or binary (computer readable format), further compounding the problem. Or, in our oft cited example of the famous ABC Widget manufacturing company, may receive an order via EDI, e-mail, fax, voice, or post.

In each case, the incoming message (for the resume read: "I want a job," for the order read: "I need widgets") is generally good news for the organization. However, multiply these messages by hundreds or thousands and very quickly the word "drowning" takes on a new, very personal meaning. Ultimately, it would be nice to be able to feed this tidal wave of information into that great information digestion machine the computer. Once inside the computer, you can start to deal with it in a rational, economical fashion.

The general rule to be followed here is: "don't reinvent the wheel." It's the handling of the differing forms of the information that makes for the difficulty. The basic content of the various information flows your organization receives is probably fairly similar or at least falls into easily recognizable patterns over time. Channeling information of similar types into standard formats will save money you won't have to spend time reformatting it to fit your system.