Dive Brief:
- The constant chime of digital workplace tools including email, instant messaging or collaboration software interrupts knowledge workers 13.9 times on an average day, according to a survey of 3,750 global workers from Workfront.
- In the company's State of Work 2020 study, 86% of workers said they expect simplicity and ease of use from their workplace tools, likening ideal systems to the user experience provided by platforms such as Instagram or Amazon.
- Respondents say just 43% of their week is spent focusing on the job they were hired to do. The rest of their work day goes to administrative tasks, unproductive or nonessential meetings, responding to emails or other tasks.
Dive Insight:
The modern workplace comes equipped with a wealth of tools designed for productivity. It also packs a bevy of distractions.
"Even in the middle of a technology and connectivity revolution, today's workforce still devotes a tremendous amount of time to low-value activity," the company said in the report. "And they know it."
Email, both personal and work-related, eats away sizeable portions of the average work day.
According to an email use survey from Adobe, the average U.S. staffer spends close to three and a half hours every day to keep up with their work emails. Another two hours a day were spent sorting through personal email.
Collaboration platform Slack is aware of the distraction its tool can be. Internally, the company uses a "polite raccoon" to keep discussions on track and channel-appropriate.
The solution to the workplace's concentration problem isn't removing technology, as it would hurt talent attraction and retention. The majority of workers (88%) say technology in the workplace is an important part of the employee experience.
Automation, a trend likely to reshape businesses across the board, holds promise in clearing repetitive tasks from employee's desks.
