The proliferation of collaboration and social tools designed to
increase productivity is actually costing businesses millions of
dollars per year in lost productivity, according to a survey of more
than 500 employees in U.S. businesses of all sizes conducted by online
market research firm uSamp (United Sample) and commissioned by social
email software provider harmon.ie.
Nearly 60 percent of work interruptions now involve either using
tools like email, social networks, text messaging and IM, or switching
windows among disparate standalone tools and applications. In fact, 45
percent of employees work only 15 minutes or less without getting
interrupted, and 53 percent waste at least one hour a day due to all
types of distractions, the report found.
That hour per day translates into $10,375 of wasted productivity per
person annually, assuming an average salary of $30 per hour. That is
more than the average U.S. driver will spend this year to own and
maintain a car, the report noted. For businesses with 1,000 employees,
the cost of employee interruptions exceeds $10 million per year.
“This survey paints a picture of a highly distracted workplace with
a particular irony: information technology that was designed at least
in part to save time is actually doing precisely the opposite. The very
tools we rely on to do our jobs are also interfering with that mission.
We’re clearly seeing what psychologists call ‘online compulsive
disorder’ spill over from our personal lives to the work environment,”
said Yaacov Cohen, co-founder and CEO of harmon.ie. “For all of us,
it’s time to take back the Internet and find ways to control our
digital addiction.”
While traditional activities such as phone calls, talking with
coworkers, and ad hoc meetings account for 43 percent of work
interruptions today, the lion’s share of distractions are now
electronically based. Users reported getting sidetracked in email
processing (23 percent), switching windows to complete tasks (10
percent), personal online activities such as Facebook (9 percent),
instant messaging (6 percent), text messaging (5 percent) and Web
search (3 percent).
The report also found multiple devices on the desktop contribute to
the problem, with 65 percent of respondents reporting that they utilize
up to three additional monitors and/or mobile devices simultaneously
with their main computer screen as they work.
Users also spend an average of 2-1/2 hours per week trying to find
the documents they need in multiple local, corporate and cloud
repositories. That adds up to 16 workdays annually, costing businesses
$3,900 per $30 per hour employee per year to subsidize inefficient
document management. The problem is exacerbated by the use of email
attachments instead of posting documents to a central repository where
they can be easily located, the report noted.
Despite the attachment to their digital tools and devices, both
companies and end users recognize the productivity challenges created
by these technologies and have implemented a variety of tools and
strategies in an attempt to limit digital-related disruptions: 68
percent of respondents reported that their employers have implemented
policies or technologies to minimize distractions, while 73 percent of
end users have adopted self-imposed techniques to help maintain focus.
Midmarket News & Reviews 
