Advancements in technology have brought communication, in a variety of formats, to the forefront of daily existence on a global scale. Advertising taglines suggesting one should “stay connected” are almost comical; the challenge now lies in finding a way to do the opposite, to disconnect from the barrage of phone calls, emails, instant messages (IM), text messages, tweets and Facebook notifications most people are bombarded with on a daily basis. Obviously, from a
work standpoint there are advantages to staying in tune with the interchange of information and decisions that affect pertinent business projects, but what does this mean for the workplace, in general? How can one assess the importance – or hindrance – of technological communication devices and social media distractions when our daily activities have intertwined the use of these tools for business AND pleasure?
Social email software provider harmon.ie (read: harmony) recently surveyed more than 500U.S. employees from businesses of all sizes on the topic of workplace distractions due to social media, email and IM. And distracted employees are. One of the most troublesome discoveries is that in businesses of over 1,000 employees digital distractions such as these can waste over $10 million a year. That breaks down to $10,375 wasted per person, per year on interruptions. The folks at harmon.ie have equated this per person-figure to more than the amount that AAA says the average U.S. driver will annually spend on car ownership and maintenance fees, to give it some perspective. In other words, these distractions are not just a nuisance in the workplace, they’re sucking away hard, solid dollars.
But wait, didn’t we all think that these technological/communication advances were laying the foundation for the speed with which we’re now able to effectively get business done? There may be lots of benefits to being able to IM a project team-member in a different office or electronically message a document to a colleague on a trip to Asia; these tools have undeniably facilitated a more successful way for workers to get the job done. But harmon.ie suggests that it is when these tools are used consistently whilst doing other projects that the most negative side effects result. Even in communication with a co-worker on Facebook chat, or responding to a client’s tweet about your company’s current online promotion – in other words when one’s actually working via social media and not just talking with their BFF in the next time zone – there is a loss of productivity. The worker is distracted and becomes absorbed in the exchange of information – good or bad – and this is where the loss of dollars comes into play. IM chats linger a bit longer than they should, perusing someone’s Facebook photo album of their recent trip to India took a little more time than anticipated (250 pictures, really?), a student’s teacher emails about piles of missing homework; it’s not hard to figure out where this is all going.
Harmon.ie’s survey indicated a whopping 23 percent of the time distracted went to managing one’s email inbox, and another 10 percent due to nothing more than switching windows to complete tasks, navigating between applications. Facebook and other personal online activities accounted for 9 percent of the time wasted.
Advancements that surely benefit business are now competing with it for the attention of the American worker. Wasting over $10,000 dollars per person, per year, digital distractions can unite co-workers under the right circumstance, consume gads of their time in the workplace if mismanaged.
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Can businesses reverse the overwhelming plague of worker disengagement?
Tags: bottom line, employees, HR, performance, workplace
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