SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While 87% of office workers can identify ways that working remotely and using digital communications tools have improved their jobs, 62% say miscommunication and/or misinterpretation of digital messages at work has a negative effect on their mental health. This is according to a new report from Loom, the asynchronous video messaging platform for modern work.
The survey, “Building Connection in the Post-Modern Workplace,” polled 3,000 adults in the U.S. and U.K. that work full-time in a desk job setting. The report delves into the role that digital communication platforms play in the modern workplace, especially as companies grapple with decisions around distributed work models.
The survey data also sheds light on emerging tools and processes leaders are leaning into to enable collaboration in this new era of work. This includes the rise of tools like async video — a medium which 81% of workers say their workplace currently uses — to give individuals a more effective channel for expressing personality, tone of voice, and point of view on distributed teams. Nearly one-third of workers say the majority of digital work meetings could be replaced by recorded/asynchronous video.
To learn more about this survey, view the full report here. The following is a brief summary of the results:
Traditional Tools Aren’t Enough According to the survey, 72% of office workers are frustrated with their digital communication tools. In fact, each week, office workers are wasting one hour and 42 minutes on average scheduling and rescheduling calls in the workplace — costing businesses in the U.S. $1.85 billion dollars every week.
Other takeaways include:
39% of office workers spend 3 or more hours a week in client and customer meetings, 27% spend 3 or more hours a wek in company-wide meetings and team check-ins, and 25% spend 3 or more hours a week in informal one-on-one meetings with managers and/or coaches
The average office workers’ daily message counts include 32 emails, 21 instant messages/chats,13 text messages, and 12 one-on-one phone calls
The Cost of Miscommunication The survey also revealed that workers still struggle with clear communication, with 91% of office workers having had digital messages misunderstood and/or misinterpreted at work. In addition, 20% say that miscommunication and/or misinterpretation has caused them to get reprimanded, demoted, or even fired. These employees are spending a significant amount of time worrying about potential misunderstandings, costing U.S. businesses at least $128 billion each year.
Office workers are engaging in “Slack-splaining” in order to clarify tone and preempt confusion:
97% feel the need to add something extra in digital communication to clarify tone
93% have felt the need to write multiple sentences to fully explain something
82% have felt the need to use extra punctuation (e.g. !!, ?!?, …)
77% have felt the need to use emojis, with 25% saying they do so often
The Video Dilemma The results show that nearly two-thirds (62%) of office workers admit to multitasking during video calls — a quarter (28%) even do it on calls they’re expected to speak in. In addition, 98% of office workers experience stress from group video conferencing, which polled as the most stressful form of communication.
On The Bright Side The survey showed that digital communication tools have empowered some employees to thrive and show their personality more than in a traditional office setting, and 58% say that showcasing their personality at work helps engage and motivate them. In addition, most office workers (87%) can identify ways that working remotely and using digital communication tools have improved their job.
Tools like asynchronous video can be a happy medium for employees:
81% of workers say their workplace currently uses asynchronous video
36% say that recorded meetings have been the best side effect of remote work
Methodology Loom conducted this research using an online survey prepared by Method Research and distributed by RepData among n=3,019 adults 18+ in the United States (n=1,514) and the United Kingdom (n=1,505). All respondents work full-time in a desk job setting, work with technology at their job, and lead remote/hybrid teams between 50-1000 employees, with a subset of n=1,005 whose title is team lead or above. The sample was equally split between gender groups, including representative age groupings and a nationally representative geographic spread of respondents. Data was collected from March 9 to March 30, 2022.
About Loom Loom is the video communication platform for async work that helps companies communicate better at scale. Loom makes it easy to record quick videos of your screen and camera and instantly share them with a link. More than 14M users across more than 200k companies around the world trust Loom to share feedback, updates, intros, training, and more – every day. Founded in late 2015, Loom has raised $203M from world-class investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Iconic, and Coatue. To learn more please visit www.loom.com.
