Monetize Lost Productivity
By definition, productivity is a measure of output from a production process, per unit of input or more simply yielding results, benefits or profits. Productivity is distinct from profitability. Profitability is the net difference between revenues and expenses. However, every little improvement to productivity has a direct impact on your profitability.
In discussions with clients, we talk about productivity in terms of the results they need and how to Get More Done in Less Time and Reduce the Cost to do so.
Look at Denise Lander’s list of Time Management Statistics excerpted below. Note the time loss and the cost impact as reported year after year. These time management statistics are clear evidence that organizations of all sizes desperately need productivity training to take control and get organized.
The statistics are sorted into four categories:
- Email and Internet Use
- Stress and Work/Life Balance
- Time and Multi-tasking
- Paper and Filing
As you look at these figures, consider what the results would be for your business. If you were asked about the time you spend on these four activities and the dollar cost to your business’ productivity, what would the answer be? How could you increase productivity in that area?
Email and Internet Use
According to Tom Pisello, ITBusinessEdge.com, 12/2008:
Organizations annually lose around $1,250 per user in productivity because of time spent dealing with spam, $1,800 on unnecessary emails from co-workers, $2,100 – $4,100 due to poorly written communications.
According to New York Times, 3/25/2007:
In 2007, a group of Microsoft workers took, on average, 15 minutes to return to serious mental tasks, such as writing reports or computer code, after dealing with incoming email. They wandered off to reply to other messages or browse the Web.
Stress and Work/Life Balance
According to Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder, 11/2009:
23% of workers say they are dissatisfied with their work/life balance
19% are hoping to leave current jobs in 2010 for a new one. 9% plan to in 2011In 2009 According to Expedia.com, 2009
Americans will throw away 465 million vacation days.
According to Houston Woman Magazine, 8/2009, re: State University of New York research:
Men who take vacations every year lowered the risk of heart disease by 20%. Those who did not have a vacation for the 5 years of the study had the highest mortality and incidence of heart disease.
According to Houston Woman Magazine, 8/2009, re: Wisconsin’s Marshfield Clinic study, funded by National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health:
Women who vacationed more than once a year had less depression and tension as well as greater marital satisfaction than other groups in the study, including those who vacationed once a year. The most distressed, about 20%, had only taken a vacation once every 6 years.
According to Institute of the Future, Menlo Park, CA:
71% of white-collar workers feel stressed about the amount of information they must process and act on while doing business; and a full 60% feel overwhelmed.
According to a Study by Sylvia Ann Hewlett & Carolyn Buck Luce, Harvard Business Review, 12/2006:
45 percent of high-earning managers are too tired to converse with their spouse or partner after a long day at the office. This strain is wreaking havoc on family and personal lives.
According to National Safety Council, Priority Magazine, 1-2/2007:
U.S. companies lose between $200-$300 billion a year due to absenteeism, tardiness, burnout, decreased productivity, worker’s compensation claims, increased employee turnover, and medical insurance costs resulting from employee work-related stress.
Time and Multitasking
According to Herman Miller Inc., “The Siren Song of Multitasking,” 2007
Open screens on desktops, files on the desk, and coworkers all distracted workers so that only 55% of work was resumed immediately. Productivity in the business sector has been increasing by only 3% since 2000.
According to a Microsoft Survey, March 15, 2005:
Most people actually use 60% or less of available work time. When more than 38,000 people in 200 countries were queried about individual productivity, it showed that even though they were physically at work five days a week, they were only productively using three days.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2005:
Unnecessary meetings cost U.S. businesses approximately $37 billion each year.
According to Betty Lin-Fisher (for Knight Ridder Newspapers), Houston Chronicle, 2/27/2006) referencing a fall 2005 study by Basex, a New York research firm:
found that office distractions ate up 2.1 hours a day for the average worker. Another study found that employees devoted an average of 11 minutes to a project before being distracted. Researchers Gloria Mark and Victor Gonsalez of the University of California, Irvine, found that once interrupted, it takes workers 25 minutes to return to the original task, if they return at all. People switch activities, such as making a call, speaking with someone in their cubicle or working on a document, every three minutes on average, Mark said.
According to Jonathan B. Spira, “The Cost of Not Paying Attention,” Basex Research, 2005:
The cost of interruptions to the U.S. economy is estimated at $588 billion a year.
According to YogaJournal, p. 22, 12/2005:
A recent study from the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London suggests that your IQ falls 10 points when you’re fielding constant emails, text messages, and calls, the same loss you’d experience if you missed an entire night’s sleep and more than double the 4-point loss you’d have after smoking marijuana. On average men fared worse than women because, researchers say, men have more difficulty multitasking.
YogaJournal, p. 22, 12/2005:, according to Wendy Cole, TIME Magazine, 10/11/2004:
On a typical day, office workers are interrupted about seven times an hour, which adds up to 56 interruptions a day, 80% of which are considered trivial, according to time-management experts.
Paper and Filing
According to Robert Hammer, RK Hammer Advisors, 2007:
Not keeping track of papers can become expensive. Late fees for credit card payments rose to $18.1 billion in 2006 from $17.1 billion in 2005.
According to Frank Booty, “Managing the Paper Trail,” Systems I New UK, 3/01/07:
95% of all information is still processed in paper form, with employees printing an average of 45 sheets of paper per day.
According to Jane M. Von Bergen (Knight Ridder Newspapers), The Boston Globe, 3/21/2006:
15% of all paper handled in businesses is lost, according the Delphi Group, a Boston consultancy, and 30 percent of all employees’ time is spent trying to find lost documents.
According to a survey of 2,600 executives by Esselte, maker of Pendaflex and Dymo, in FastCompany Magazine, 8/2004:
Executives waste six weeks per year searching for lost documents.
When you look at your productivity and the team you have built around your business, can you see inefficiencies in how things get done? What is it costing you to continue to do things the same way? If you monetize that lost productivity, how would you choose to spend those resources? Getting more done? Saving time? Saving money? Spending more time with friends and family? Taking that vacation?
