A new study by project management firm Wrike (Opens in a new tab) Indicates that operational deficiencies lead employees to waste huge amounts of time.
According to the study, companies with approximately 3,000 employees lose up to $52 million annually in lost time as a result of fruitless meetings, repetitive efforts, information searches, and check-ins.
Another $8.2 million is found to be wasted each year on delayed or canceled projects, while employee losses are said to account for nearly half a million dollars over twelve months.
Wrike claims that the digital age has created a “new level of chaos and disorder,” costing companies millions in what the company calls “dark matter” in the workplace. The knowledge workers surveyed claimed to use an average of 14 apps and pieces of software per day, nine of which were deployed as a result of the pandemic.
Improve company communications
Despite attending 18 days of meetings a year, 59% of business leaders complained that they struggle to track employee performance
Communication platforms are the main culprits in the study findings, with 86% of business leaders surveyed adopting new communication and collaboration tools to support hybrid business processes. Moreover, it was found that workers receive approximately 300 work-related messages each day on average.
The effects can be seen outside of large companies, with the study finding that a company with 100 employees could lose more than $1.65 million each year. On the other end of the scale, multinational companies with more than 100,000 employees can waste more than $1.65 billion annually.
Besides the obvious financial implications, nearly two-thirds of knowledge workers felt they were overworked, making their work environments less attractive and thus increasing employee turnover.
Wrike says that failing to tackle the company’s “dark matter” over the next five years will increase its impact by 53%. In an effort to “create a single source of truth for work,” more than eight out of 10 survey companies are looking to invest in technologies such as artificial intelligence and workflow automation.
