Workplace productivity down? Balky software and watercooler talk to ...

Maybe companies need to stop blaming Face?book and Twitter for reduced workplace produc?tivity. TrackVia, a technol?ogy consulting firm, found that computer glitches and watercooler chit-chat are the biggest causes of dis?traction in the office.

In a nationwide survey conducted by the firm, 14 percent of workers cited chatting with co-workers as their biggest waste of time in the workplace, followed by dealing with computer software problems (11 per?cent). Less than 5 percent of respondents cited social media as their biggest time waster.

Cynthia Lohrke, a profes?sor of management infor?mation systems at Samford University?s Brock School of Business, said the survey findings weren?t surprising.

While social media often get blamed for taking too much time in the workplace, Lohrke said studies have shown that sites such as Fa?cebook and Twitter can help companies by allowing workers to interact with cus?tomers and promote busi?ness products and services.

She cited recent study by the McKinsey Global Institute that found 72 percent of companies use social technology in some way, but few are anywhere near achieving the full potential benefits from them.

McKinsey?s report, ?The Social Economy: Unlocking Value and Productivity Through Social Technologies,? said the average interaction worker spends an estimated 28 percent of the work week managing email and nearly 20 percent looking for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help with specific tasks.

It found that when companies use social media internally, it can reduce by as much as 35 percent the amount of time employees spend searching for company information. ?Social media has value and can help employees be more productive,? Lohrke said. ?One reason American workers have seen productivity improve so much in recent years is advancements in technology.?

Lohrke said she was surprised that TrackVia?s study, which was featured in the Wall Street Journal, got so much media attention because ?it wasn?t an unbiased survey.? TrackVia makes cloud-based application platforms that allow workers to build their own business software to do their work faster ?so people need to know it is engaged in helping workplace productivity.?

Findings

According to survey findings:

More than one in seven employees (15 percent) said they spent one to two hours per week addressing misunderstandings or miscommunications with co-workers. Another 7 percent said they spent three or more hours on this in a typical week.

One in six (17 percent) said they spent one to two hours in a typical week navigating or dealing with office politics. Seven percent said they spent three to five hours, and another 7 percent estimated they spent six or more hours in a typical week dealing with office politics.

Among those who spend time in meetings during a typical week, more than one-third (37 percent) felt at least half of the time in meetings was wasteful of their time. Approximately one in five workers (21 percent) said they spent at least three hours in a typical week attending work meetings.

While some may complain that company policies and procedures can waste their time, 44 percent said they actually helped increase productivity at least slightly.

The survey results are available at trackvia.com/time-waste-survey.

The study was administered by Amplitude Research during August among a nationwide panel of business and consumer professionals.

In total, 300 surveys were completed by non C-level employees throughout the United States who use computers and software as part of their daily jobs.

Article source: http://blog.al.com/businessnews/2012/08/workplace_productivity_down_ba.html

Source: http://bamabusinessnews.com/workplace-productivity-down-balky-software-and-watercooler-talk-to-blame-not-social-media-survey-finds/

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