How to be more productive:
Removing the barriers to
getting work done
zoom.com
Table of contents
03 Introduction
04 What’s getting in the way of productivity?
05 A false sense of productivity
07 A three-pronged approach to greater productivity
10 Next steps to improving how you work
Introduction
When it seems like everyone you work with has more to do and less time
to do it, the question at the front of many leaders’ minds might be, “How
can I improve my team’s productivity?”
A better question might be, “What’s getting in the way of my team’s
productivity — and what can I do to remove those barriers?”
Productivity is often measured as a ratio of output (goods or services
produced) compared to input (like an employee’s time and labor). In other
words, the more time you spend on inefficient tasks that don’t actually
contribute to the bottom line, the less productive you are. However, there
are many different factors that can affect productivity, like how engaged
employees feel, the tools they use, and how they spend their time.
In this ebook, you’ll find ways to overcome some of the
most common barriers to productivity, and in turn, help
improve how your employees work.
Chapter 1
What’s getting in
the way of
productivity?
(Dis)engagement at work
According to data from Gallup, employees who $8.8 trillion
are not engaged or are actively disengaged with in lost productivity
their work cost the world $8.8 trillion in lost
productivity — equal to 9% of global GDP.
Toggling between tools
The average user toggles between different apps 4 hours
and websites nearly 1,200 times each day. That a week wasted
adds up to 4 hours a week, or 5 working weeks a
year — time that could be spent more wisely.
Time spent on low-impact tasks
A global PwC survey of CEOs found that leaders 40% of time
see enormous inefficiencies in activities like spent inefficiently
decision-making meetings and emails — viewing on routine tasks
roughly 40% of the time spent on these tasks
as inefficient.
Chapter 2
A false sense of productivity
According to a global 2023 survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Zoom, the
majority of leaders and employees — 77% and 66% respectively — said they feel productive
during the workday.
However, the survey helps uncover a disconnect between how productive workers feel
and how much work they actually get done. If workers are truly productive, why do more
than two-thirds of leaders (67%) and half of employees (52%) say they often work more than
eight hours a day? Why do another 64% of leaders say they need more time than they have to
finish all their work during the day?
I feel productive
I often work more
I need more time than I
during my workday. than 8 hours a day. have to finish all of my
work during the day.
77% 66% 67% 52% 64% 44%
Leaders Employees Leaders Employees Leaders Employees
The reality is that many of us waste time on tasks that keep us busy but don’t
contribute toward productivity. For instance, the Morning Consult survey shows that
employees and leaders spend more of their time drafting emails and chat messages than
anything else.
Leaders and employees spend more time than they want to on drafting emails and chat messages.
Draft messages, emails, Draft messages, emails,
and follow-ups and follow-ups
80%
58%
54% 44%
44%
• 80% of leaders spend an hour or more a day • 58% of employees spend an hour or more a
on messages, emails, and follow-ups
day on messages, emails, and follow-ups
• 54% of leaders spend more time on it than • 44% of employees spend more time on it than
they want to they want to
When leaders and employees
spend a good deal of their
day on low-impact tasks, it
can give them the illusion of
productivity, but leave them
without enough time to finish
their other work.
Chapter 3
A three-pronged approach
to greater productivity
So, how do you increase productivity? Addressing inefficiencies brought on by tool
overload, low-impact tasks, and disengagement can help you create a better employee
experience. When employees have the tools and environment they need to do their work
successfully, they can be truly productive.
1 Improve employee engagement
When comparing employee engagement levels, Gallup found that the best-engaged
workforces had 18% higher levels of productivity over the lowest-engaged workforces. By
improving employee engagement, you could reap the benefits of better productivity, not to
mention higher levels of well-being, better retention, and lower absenteeism — other trends
Gallup found in highly-engaged workforces.
The concept of employee engagement has changed in recent years as teams have gotten
more dispersed and work arrangements have become more flexible. It’s evolved from
simply engaging employees to delivering a positive employee experience through a
focus on people, processes, and technology.
IT leaders have an increasingly important role to play in employee experience. If your
employees are constantly filing IT support tickets or using third-party apps instead of the
tools they’re given, they might feel like they don’t have the tools they need to succeed. If
they’re struggling to collaborate with team members in different locations, they might feel like
they’re spinning their wheels and not actually getting things done. These pain points
naturally affect their experience at work and can all contribute to disengagement.
On the other hand, if employees have tools that make it easy to communicate and collaborate
however they need to (whether it’s a quick phone call, an impromptu video meeting,
whiteboard, shared document, or chat channel), they’ll be able to build stronger relationships
with teammates and get more done with less friction. All that can contribute to a positive
experience, a feeling of connection, and a higher likelihood of engagement.
2 Use AI to help employees be more efficient
The Zoom-Morning Consult survey showed that workers spend most of their time on routine
tasks like writing emails and chats, taking notes in meetings, sharing action items, and
providing status updates to colleagues — leaders more so than employees.
By automating or getting assistance with some of those rote tasks, employees can
focus their time and efforts on different activities that help increase output, drive
revenue, and otherwise move the needle, thereby improving their productivity.
AI tools can help with composing messages, note-taking, summarizing information, and organizing
ideas. Our 2023 AI in the Workplace report shows 74% of leaders who use AI say it saves them
one or more hours a day, and among teams who use AI, 77% of leaders say their teams are more
productive as a result. And when AI tools are built into the applications your employees use every
day, like Zoom AI Companion, it can help streamline their workflows even more.
Read our AI in the Workplace
report to dig deeper into how AI
can help employees save time,
and check out our companion
piece by Harvard Business
Review to get actionable
insights into developing an AI
strategy for your company.
3 Streamline tools and workflows
Toggling between multiple tools and apps may take a
fraction of a second, but when you’re constantly
moving from your team chats to your meeting notes
to your calendar and back, all that context-switching
adds up to nearly four hours a week.
For companies, that’s a lot of potential productivity
and real dollars wasted. And for employees, that’s a
lot of precious time squandered.
Asana’s 2023 Anatomy of Work report found that
the more apps employees used, the more time they
felt could be saved if their company improved
processes. Depending on the needs of your
organization, improving productivity might start
with re-evaluating your company’s tech stack and
consolidating multiple point solutions to a few
core applications.
You may find that consolidating to a single
platform like Zoom is more efficient and cost-
effective than having separate apps (and
licenses) for chatting with colleagues, making
phone calls, scheduling meetings, creating video
clips, and whiteboarding. Adding to that, tight
integrations across Zoom products and a flexible
ecosystem of apps allow you and your employees to
build more seamless workflows — meaning less
context-switching and fewer seconds lost to toggling.
Chapter 4
Next steps to improving how you work
If it seems like inefficiencies, tech
troubles, or disengagement are affecting
productivity at your organization, explore
how the Zoom platform can help.
With a suite of productivity tools to enhance
your core communication across meetings,
team chat, phone, mail, and more, your
employees will have what they need to work
more effectively all in one place. And by
consolidating with Zoom, your IT team can
benefit from streamlined management,
fewer contracts, reduced TCO, and less
time spent on training and support.
Improve productivity across your teams
with an all-in-one, AI-powered
collaboration platform like Zoom
Workplace. Check out our on-demand
webinar, Reimagine how you and your
teams connect and collaborate, to
learn how Zoom Workplace can help
your team get more done, together.
Watch it here
Thank you
zoom.com
