Are workers being interrupted by phone calls, e-mails and visits from co-workers? Here’s a solution managers may not have tried:

Have them use instant messaging software on the job.

Contrary to popular belief, a new study finds that workers who “IM” report fewer interruptions than colleagues who do not. At the same time, they may feel more connected at the office.

Using instant messaging led to more conversations on the computer, but the conversations were briefer, says R. Kelly Garrett, assistant professor of communication at Ohio State University in Columbus, who co-authored the study with University of California, Irvine professor James N. Danziger.

Garrett says that employees using IM technology report that they communicate more frequently — with co-workers, clients, and personal contacts — but do not spend any more time communicating overall.

Employees often use the technology as a substitute for other, more disruptive forms of communication such as the telephone, e-mail, and face-to-face conversations, and IM conversations tend to be briefer, he says.

“The key takeaway is that instant messaging has some benefits where many people had feared that it might be harmful,” Garrett said. “We found that the effect of instant messaging is actually positive. People who used instant messaging reported that they felt they were being interrupted less frequently.”

The study involved 912 people from 12 metropolitan areas who worked at least 30 hours per week in an office and used a computer for at least five hours in a workday. The results were published recently in the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication.

Tags: IM, instant messaging, James Danziger, productivity, R. Kelly Garrett