Survey of over 1,400 knowledge workers in the U.S. and Canada reveals new findings on productivity, roadblocks in the workplace, and the future of virtual work
October 7, 2015, Mountain View, CA - Wrike, the work management platform for high-performance teams, today released the results of its 2015 Work Management Survey.
The survey, issued on June 22-July 21, 2015 to 1,464 office workers in the U.S. and Canada, includes viewpoints from people in a variety of jobs including marketing, IT, accounting, HR, sales, and manufacturing. The report covers topics on what stresses workers out, productivity and the biggest roadblocks people face when trying to get their work done.
Key themes and findings:
- Biggest Stressors in the Workplace - Missing the information needed to complete projects and prioritizing what to do next are the two biggest stressors for workers. Unrealistic goals, deadlines moving around and unclear leadership rounded out the top five.
- Biggest Roadblocks to Productivity - Participants say the top three roadblocks to productivity are working on too many things at once (60%), waiting for other people to act (49%), and responding to emails (40%). Other roadblocks include procrastinating (30%), not having enough time to finish work (30%), and too many requests (28%).
- Clarity on Priorities - About 70% of workers say they “often” or “always" know what to work on first when they come into the office.
- Meetings in the Workplace - Fifty percent of respondents attend 2-5 meetings per week, while over 34% attend six or more. For those who are unhappy with their company's management process, the number of people who attend at least six meetings a week jumps to 40% (from 34%). Only about half of the meetings workers spend their time in are considered productive. When asked if they leave a meeting with a clear understanding of the next action item, 46% of participants answered with "some of the time," "rarely," or "never.”
- Shifting Deadlines - When asked how often deadlines shift due to unexpected changes, 41% of participants admit to deadlines moving around "most” or “all” of the time, and 47% said some of the time. Only 11% said rarely or never.
- Future of Virtual Work - Workers believe that by 2020, virtual work will increase (83%), the speed of work will increase (82%), and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) will be a more common request to employees (81%). Most workers also agreed that there would be a bigger shift to mobile technology. Respondents were least likely to agree that the they would work more hours in the future. Seventeen percent disagreed with this statement - the highest level of disagreement.
Download the full report to learn more.
