PALO ALTO, Calif., March 26, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just how distracting are unnecessary emails and chatty coworkers in the workplace? A new survey from Jive Software, Inc. (Nasdaq:JIVE) found nearly four out of every five workers (79 percent) in the U.S. spend time during their workday checking emails when that time could be used towards something more productive. And, more than one-third of workers (36 percent) say the people they work with are their biggest distraction on the job.
An infographic accompanying this release is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=17799
Here is a by-the-numbers look at key findings from the Jive survey:
Time Wasted by American Workers on Email When They Could Be Doing Something More Productive:
- 79 percent say they waste time checking emails
- 18 percent spend more than a quarter of their workday checking irrelevant emails.
- On average, American workers employed full time, part-time or self-employed spend 16 percent of a workday checking irrelevant email.
The Biggest Distractions at Work:
- 36 percent of employed Americans said coworkers are their biggest distraction at work.
- 20 percent said email was their biggest distraction during the workday.
- 19 percent said that meetings are the most distracting during the workday.
Finding Work/Life Balance:
- Close to half (48 percent) of employed Americans report working when on vacation.
- Almost one fifth (19 percent) of employed Americans are more overwhelmed by technology at work now compared to five years ago.
This survey was conducted online on Jive Software's behalf by Harris Interactive from February 27 – March 1, 2013 among over 2,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older. In an unrelated study* conducted previously, McKinsey Research Institute surveyed more than 5,000 companies and found that employees spend more than 50 percent of their work week doing email, searching for information and collaborating with colleagues, which equates to 28 hours per week on average. This time commitment is nearly twice as much time as they spend on their core responsibilities.
"We found that two of the things people rely on most at the office – their email, which was invented over 40 years ago, and their colleagues – are also two of the biggest impediments to real work," said John Rizzo, chief marketing officer for Jive Software. "The cost of the email distractions alone is over $2 billion per day when averaged across the entire American workforce. Clearly, the way we work today is not working. Companies need to change the way and the technology that enables work to get done to help people be more productive, collaborative, and ultimately contribute to top-line growth."
According to data by a top-three global business consultancy*, companies using the Jive social business platform reported:
- A 21 percent reduction in email.
- A 16 percent reduction in meetings.
- 26 percent of the employees using Jive focused their work on more strategic priorities.
- A 34 percent reduction in time looking for information and expertise across the company.
- 61 percent of the employees felt connected to their colleagues in more productive and efficient ways.
Join the discussion about workplace distractions on Twitter with @JiveSoftware. Use the hashtag #saynotoemail and let us know how you'd rather work.
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Jive Software from February 27 – March 1, 2013 among 2,111 adults ages 18 and older, among which 1,090 are employed. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
About Jive Software
Jive Software (JIVE) is a leader in social business. Our cloud-based platform connects employees, customers and partners and is a proven system, focused on value use cases, that, according to research performed by a top three global business consultancy firm, increases productivity within companies by up to 15%*. By combining the power of cloud, mobile, big data and proprietary collaboration technologies, Jive is transforming the way work gets done and unleashing productivity, creativity and innovation for millions of people in many of the world's largest companies. For a free trial of Jive's next-generation social business platform, please visit Try Jive.
* Source: Top three global business consultancy research; November 2012
