Chronemics is the study of how time is used in communication. Anthropologists who focus on chronemics look at cultural norms regarding time and the way cultures vary and converge around them. Chronemics also branches out into other disciplines, such as the study of organizational behavior.

Technology is often associated with efficiency, allowing users to maximize the work done in a given period of time. Time is a key variable and currency for agile startups and large tech companies. A technology solution that takes into account a user’s unique orientation to time can be a competitive advantage that makes your product successful.

Time is an important non-verbal signal that plays a major role in communication, especially in the business world.

Chronemics in technological communications offers important insights for management. For example, studies have taken large amounts of aggregated email data from large companies and analyzed the level and timing of responses. This research showed that organizational structure can be accurately predicted by creating a hierarchy of responsiveness, placing the most responsive entities at the bottom of the organization and the least responsive entities at the top.