The provider of the project collaboration solution Projectplace, has found that the most common cause of wasted time during the workday is inefficient processes and duplicated efforts. This is according to a survey of 515 senior and key decision makers involved in IT buying processes across the US, UK, Netherlands, Germany and the Nordics.
Senior management is instrumental to getting new processes in place to drive productivity and efficiency, and the report finds that technology is clearly the answer to their needs. The time saved as a result is not necessarily invested back into the business however, and many business leaders would rather choose to spend time investing in themselves away from the office. Businesses with technology at the heart of the organization are most confident in reaching their productivity goals, and the IT department plays a bigger role than expected when it comes to ensuring that investments create sufficient ROI. These are just some of the key findings in the Powering Productivity report.
Inefficient processes (44 percent), too much paperwork (43 percent) and meetings (41 percent) are the biggest causes of wasted time within an organisation – over a quarter (28 percent) believe unclear goals and expectations contribute to wasted time. It shows that companies without tech-driven productivity strategies are suffering the most, and it can severely affect customer satisfaction and employee retention. The UK is the second most tech-driven region, behind the US. Half of UK respondents say technology is central to their organisational efficiency, whereas the Netherlands is the least tech-driven region (only 23 percent said the same). Predictably, this means that they are among the least confident when it comes to meeting efficiency targets. Just one in five (21 percent) Dutch professionals are ‘very confident’ in their ability to meet productivity goals, compared to the UK’s 38 percent. The results of the two countries show a clear parallel between the use of productivity tools and increased efficiency. Further stats in the report also highlight the importance of high-quality IT support in achieving ROI.
Some other key highlights from the research include:Employees (57 percent) and customers (48 percent) are the areas of business most likely to suffer from unaddressed inefficiencies. Just 40 percent of companies, those who work closely with their IT teams, believe it is easy to measure ROI both before and after investing in new technology
Personal development, development of other staff members and streamlining business processes are the areas of business most likely to be invested with additional time
Almost all business leaders (96 percent) believe technology helps drive up organisational efficiency.
