Asana commissioned the Global Web Index (GWI) to conduct a survey of 9,615 office workers in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany and Japan.
According to the survey, “work for work” accounted for 58% of total working hours, while professional work and strategic work accounted for only 33% and 9% respectively. “Work for work” in asana refers to day-to-day tasks, not specialized tasks (eg, marketing analysis or coding).
The biggest waste of time was still unnecessary meetings. Senior managers were found to lose 3.6 hours per week in unnecessary meetings and 2.8 hours per week in unprofessional staff. This is an increase from last year. Executives are also 30% more likely than non-employees to miss deadlines due to too many video calls or meetings.
Meetings are getting longer and longer. According to the report, more time is spent in audio, video and face-to-face meetings than a year ago. 32% of employees say they spend more time on video calls and 22% on voice calls. Not surprising considering the number of applications used by companies. It was studied that general employees had an average of 8.8, and managers and superiors had more than 10. Employees believe that process improvements, such as the use of simplified applications, could save money 4.9 hours per week.
At the same time, according to the report, establishing an effective cross-departmental collaboration strategy has clear benefits for businesses and employees, enabling businesses to grow and improve productivity. 92% of employees at companies Asana categorized as “collaborative” said they felt their work was valued, compared to just 50% of employees at “non-cooperative” companies.
In addition, 79% of employees in collaborative companies say they are well prepared to respond to problems and 87% say they are able to meet customer expectations. 20% and 37% of employees in non-cooperative companies respectively answered yes to the same question.
Given the current macroeconomic environment, growth is at the heart of business agendas. According to the report, companies with effective collaboration strategies (55%) are more likely to grow than those without (25%).
Collaborative companies can also increase employee retention rates by providing employees with clear goals that align with company goals, the report notes. 87% of employees who said they had clear goals said they would still be in their current role a year from now, more than double those who said they had no goals.
Asana COO Ann Raimondi said businesses need to rethink how teams work together to drive efficiency and growth during uncertain economic times. “Leaders need to find ways for teams to collaborate smarter and more productively. Instead of adding meetings and applications to an already overloaded workforce, we can create a deliberate, asynchronous mode of collaboration and innovation to make the most of our employees’ time and skills and deliver best results to our customers.
editor@itworld.co.kr
