Research Shows Communication Apps Have Negative Effects on Work

Research by Researchscape commissioned by Lucid Software has revealed that all kinds of communication applications can have negative effects on work. On average, knowledge workers spend 5 hours a week searching for information.
The survey was conducted in the US, Australia, UK, Germany and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, 72 percent of respondents described themselves as hybrid workers, suggesting that they are even more dependent on communication apps than abroad. This can have annoying effects, such as problematic internal communication which can harm ‘innovation, productivity and employee satisfaction’.

Different Apps, Same Problems

The research team found that knowledge workers use an average of 4.5 different apps, from Outlook and Teams to Slack and WhatsApp. 29 percent of Dutch respondents reported feeling extreme or strong overwhelming due to this. This can lead to a lack of coordination in projects (35 percent), which 24 percent of Dutch respondents said was an obstacle at work.
The research team also saw that this can lead to undesirable things like working overtime. 52 percent said that the objectives of some projects are not achieved due to a lack of coordination. This causes frustration for a third, and lower productivity (43 percent), frustration (33 percent) and unpaid work in their free time (38 percent) for many.
“The results of the Workplace Alignment Survey clearly show that it is still necessary for project organizations to ensure the right alignment within teams,” says Nathan Rawlins, Chief Marketing Officer at Lucid Software. “We see that Dutch respondents (45 percent) have a need for better documentation of project objectives and progress. Visual collaboration could help to achieve valuable results.”
Lucid points out that its own Visual Collaboration Suite offers several functions that should limit this problem.