I am no longer a cubicle dweller, having surrendered that distinction eight years ago when I started my consulting practice. A few times since then I have been a cubicle renter, occupying temporary workspace while working onsite with clients.

One of the things I simultaneously miss and don’t miss about life in Cube Land is the occasional interruption by co-workers who would pop their heads over the cubicle wall, if they were tall enough, or knock on the sparsely available hard surface of the cubicle structure and say, "Got a minute?"

I miss those visits by people who would stay only long enough to say something I wanted to hear or ask a question that was easy to answer. I dreaded those visits by the resident complainers, gossip mongers and people carrying large stacks of folders.

Those interruptions apparently are becoming less of an issue in offices where instant messaging, or IM, is being used. At least, that’s the conclusion of a recent study by R. Kelly Garrett, assistant professor at Ohio State University. He and his team surveyed 912 people working at least 30 hours a week in an office and using a computer at least five hours a day. The research subjects were chosen randomly from 12 metropolitan areas around the United States.

Respondents to the survey said they held more conversations over the computer, thanks to IM. Apparently, however, workers don’t primarily use IM to spread the latest gossip or whine about how they were passed over for a promotion. They use it for work-related conversations in place of more disruptive channels like telephone calls and pop-in visits. Respondents said their IM conversations are shorter and more focused on a specific question or issue.

The study also found that digital natives -- those born into this wired world -- aren’t the only ones who find IM to enhance their productivity. Most of the respondents to the Ohio State study were in the 46-to-55 age group.

Garrett told TechNewsWorld that he believes people learned how to use IM at home and applied what they learned about using it to the workplace when IM arrived there.

For example, it’s OK to ignore an IM, so if one pops up on the computer at work, employees might decide to put off the conversation until a more convenient time.

I tried doing that a few times to people whose heads suddenly appeared hovering above my cubicle wall. It didn’t work.

Robert J. Holland owns Holland Communication Solutions LLC in Mechanicsville. He works with Fortune 500 companies and small businesses to help them develop communication programs that support business goals. He is also available to speak to business groups about workplace communication. You can reach him at robert@hollandcomm.com, at www.hollandcomm.com, or by calling (804) 368-0312.