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SAN DIEGO--- New study highlights where workers actually spend their time in the office |
| 11/9/2005 @ 5:12 PM
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Productivity is one of our nation's most pressing economic concerns. However, until now, national office productivity trends have never been studied or analyzed in detail. In order to address this information gap, IBT-USA, Inc., a training organization which teaches people how to work smarter by helping them achieve long-lasting improvement in their personal productivity and effectiveness, has developed the WhiteCollar Productivity Index (WPI).
The WPI is the first study of its kind, indicating long-term trends on how people actually spend their time at work. For the past five years (2000- 2004), IBT-USA has collected statistics on over 1,000 employees (administration, staff, middle management and senior executives) at some 30 companies from coast to coast, representing a variety of sectors, including the automotive, finance, biotech, education, insurance, accounting and technology industries.
According to Bary Sherman, CEO of IBT-USA, "We believe this is the first time statistics of this nature have been compiled, providing credible information for the office workplace. The WPI findings are of interest to anyone active in the working world, in private or public organizations of any size. By observing, analyzing and understanding these long-term trends, we are in a better position to offer an overview of what can be expected in the future and what we can do today to perhaps reverse some of these patterns and make our work day as productive as possible."
The core subjects measured by the WPI are:
- Handling email
- Handling paper mail
- Working overtime
- Delegating responsibility
- Attending ineffective meetings
- Dealing with interruptions
- Looking for lost or misplaced information
- Planning work
- Working on backlogs (old work)
Data has been collected for each of these subjects and provides the statistics to report.
- Handling Email: 2000 - 4.0 hours per week 2004 - 8.8 hours per week
Since 2000, as the WPI shows, the time spent on this task has skyrocketed from 4 hours per week to 8.8 hours. Based on its observations of the workplace, IBT can explain why this increase has happened and, more importantly, what can be done to rein it in.
- Handling Paper Mail: 2000 - 2.0 hours per week 2004 - 1.3 hours per week
A significant decline has been observed over the years. After peaking at 2.6 hours in 2001, the amount of time spent on this task dropped 50% to 1.3 hours in 2004.
- Ineffective Meeting Time: 2000 - .7 hours per week 2004 - 2.1 hours per week
While time spent attending ineffective meetings had reached a study low in 2000 of 0.7 hours a week, it eventually tripled by 2004, hitting 2.1 hours per person per week. How can this be explained? With fewer people in the office to do the work, employees feel the need to collaborate more but, in many cases, actually accomplish less.
The entire WPI, expressed in hours per week, per person, is as follows:
ISSUE YEAR 2000 YEAR 2004 % INCREASE
- ---- --------- --------- ---------- Handling Email 4.0 hours 8.8 hours +220% Handling Paper Mail 2.0 hours 1.3 hours - 35% Attending Ineffective Meetings .7 hours 2.1 hours +300% Working Overtime 4.9 hours 6.4 hours + 30% Delegating Work 3.3 hours 3.5 hours + 6% Being Interrupted 3.3 hours 4.5 hours + 37% Looking for Information 1.5 hours 1.7 hours + 13% Working on Backlog 1.8 hours 3.0 hours + 67% Planning Work 2.0 hours 2.2 hours + 10%
Such statistics can help companies zero in on key areas where improvements can be made in terms of time consumption and productivity. And the good news is that IBT's Personal Efficiency Program (PEP) makes it possible to recover up to 10 hours of this time per week.
For the background information and commentary on the WhiteCollar Productivity Index (WPI) results, please contact Bary Sherman at bary.sherman@ibt-pep.com or 760.731.1400.
The Institute for Business Technology
IBT, founded in 1984, is a global consulting firm specializing in workplace solutions to improve the productivity and effectiveness of executives, managers, staff and professionals. IBT-USA's clients include such prominent organizations as AARP, Agilent Technology, Capital One, Ernst & Young, HP, NCR, Toyota and Wachovia Corporation. |
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