Distractions and mistakes caused by Zoom and Teams impacting worker productivity and morale 

Far from solving the UK productivity and the ‘Great Resignation’ crisis – new research reveals that the overuse of collaboration tools – like Teams and Zoom – during the pandemic have led UK workers to make more mistakes; with younger age workers finding the tools causing them to feel disengaged from their company and colleagues.  

The survey of over 1,000 British workers, commissioned by Sapphire Systems, reveals workers want employers to invest in helping them work faster, smarter and simpler. The result could improve productivity, morale, creativity and company loyalty. 

The survey of 1,323 adults, conducted by Kantar Research, questioned workers using Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex during the pandemic. 

• Only 32% of UK workers found collaboration tools enabled them to complete their day jobs more effectively, with 81% stating that the constant interference such as chat distracted them from work they needed to get done. 
• Nearly three-quarters of workers (71%) stated that distractions caused them to make mistakes in day-to-day tasks – some of them so bad they couldn’t bear to recall them. 
• Only 78% stated that they spent too much time in meetings, with the same number (78%) stating that while these tools enabled them to multitask this added stress to their jobs. 

• Just over half of workers (56%) said they found the tools excluded them from contributing their individual points during meetings, with 69% of 16–24-year-olds finding it most difficult to find their voice compared with only 48% of 49–54-year-olds. Female workers found the use of online meeting tools excluded them from participation. 

When questioned about what their employers could do to help them improve their productivity and engagement experience. 

• Just under half (42%) said they wanted employers to make routine tasks easier and faster to deliver, improving their personal productivity and reducing stress. 
• Only 39% of workers want their employers to improve systems to do their day jobs. 
• One-fifth of workers (20%) would like their company to provide a ‘digital robot assistant’ to complete their repetitive tasks for them automatically. 

“With British companies already facing a perfect storm of the ‘Great Resignation’, a skills shortage and an inflation crisis, this survey shows that workers want their company to help them reduce the confusion, exclusion and mistakes all of which is diluting productivity and causing frustration,” said Chris Gabriel, Chief Strategy Officer at Sapphire. “They want to work faster and smarter, with one to five already asking to be given personal digital robotic assistants to automate repetitive day-to-day tasks. It is clear workers want more investment in the tools that take them forward faster into a new era of digital productivity.”