{"id":106,"date":"2019-05-06T19:19:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T02:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.golinks.com\/blog\/?p=106"},"modified":"2024-10-01T13:12:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T20:12:48","slug":"go-links-the-rolodex-effect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.golinks.com\/blog\/go-links-the-rolodex-effect\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rolodex Effect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the Rolodex Effect?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the introduction of the internet, many processes for completing daily tasks were optimized for a single worker. A Rolodex was an easy way to keep all of one\u2019s contacts and notes about each contact in a quickly accessible medium right on one\u2019s desk. This process was revolutionary at the time for maintaining great business relationships. One could easily make a phone call and find all of the necessary information on any of your contacts right at your fingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, you hardly ever hear about anyone keeping a Rolodex on their desk. So what changed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, there are a few issues with the Rolodex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, you had to physically be at your desk in order to access your Rolodex. Want to make a business call while you\u2019re on a business trip? Unless you brought your Rolodex with you, you\u2019d have to pull information about every client from your own memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Second, if you wanted to share information about a contact, there was no easy way to let someone else easily access that information. You\u2019d either have to copy all the information down to send it to them or let them borrow your Rolodex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, if someone wanted to borrow your Rolodex, they would have to know how to search through it. Did you index your contacts by first name, last name, or company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, if someone left the company, they would take all that information with them. Now the company loses valuable information about their clients that was stored in this Rolodex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is \u201cThe Rolodex\u201d Effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valuable information stored conveniently for an individual, but inaccessible to others in an organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This effect slows down productivity and stifles collaboration, and it can be seen in many parts of organizations that haven\u2019t fully adapted to a shared resource culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apps like Salesforce<\/a> and HubSpot<\/a> have replaced the Rolodex because anyone in the company can add their notes to any contact. Your company now has a digital Rolodex that everyone in the company can access at any time from anywhere, and that always stays up to date, even if someone leaves the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This effect isn\u2019t just limited to contacts, it happens everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Contacts, spreadsheets, documents, short-form communication, customer support, bookmarks, sales calls, video sharing, file storage, design mocks, todo items, code, database queries, and many more areas fall prey to the Rolodex effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Google created Google Docs all of your word documents and spreadsheets were confined to your computer, and inaccessible to others. Today, you\u2019ll see many teams contributing to the same Google Doc and building a spreadsheet together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n