‘Less Is More’: The Key to Success This World Productivity Day

June 18, 2021 - 5 min read

Rory Schaff

World Productivity Day takes place June 20 each year, and it feels more important than ever to recognize this global holiday. Many parts of the world are reaching the end of the pandemic, and along with it, the end of remote work as we’ve come to know it over the past 18 months. As we configure our workday to conform to one of the post-pandemic work models — fully remote, fully in-office, or hybrid — maintaining productivity remains a challenge for many organizations.

Wrike is a leader in collaborative work management and partners with over 20,000 companies worldwide to help teams do the best work of their lives. With 15+ years of experience powering every type of organization, from startups to enterprise, we have deep insight into productivity challenges and what is needed to overcome them.

Given the industry we’re in, we’ve had a front-row seat to the significant and lasting impact this pandemic has had on the workplace. In the early days, organizations were pleasantly surprised by the productivity gains driven by remote work. Workers had more control over their schedules and fewer distractions typically present in an office environment. Over a year later, the novelty of instant messaging apps and virtual happy hours has worn off. Synchronous communication tools that initially brought teams together began to turn into a burden, and organizations started noticing a decline in key HR metrics like productivity.

To better understand the recent dip in productivity and how organizations can overcome the underlying issues that cause it, we revisited two separate studies. One was conducted by Wrike, while the other was authored by Citrix. Additionally, we had a look at our extensive platform data. Two notable trends emerged.

1. More productivity apps doesn’t mean a more productive workforce.

The shift to remote work compounded an already complex and distributed work environment littered with an array of heterogeneous applications and communication channels. Organizations were forced to roll out more tools to keep teams connected, and we’re now seeing the backlash of those deployments.

Citrix found that 44% of workers require 11–15 different applications or tools to do their job effectively and 37% require 6–10. The increase in apps and systems rolled out to combat the distance between newly disparate teams led to more complex workspaces and a breakdown of the 9–5 workday. Time gained without the daily commute was converted into time spent toggling between tools, hopping on Zoom calls, and responding to Slack messages.

This level of unproductiveness as a result of these distractions is concerning those at the top. Our CIO Research, which took a bird’s-eye view of the scenario, found that even with instant messaging and video conferencing apps, employee burnout was up and engagement and productivity levels were down.

We expect that, unless something is done about it, the negative impact of this digital workplace chaos on employee efficiency and productivity will increase as organizations transition to hybrid work.

So what can be done about it? We looked at our platform data to find out.

2. Collaborative work management software is the solution to these frustrations and essential for the future of work.

After reading headline after headline about suffering productivity, we wanted to see how our customers stacked up. We knew that Fitbit saved 400 hours of meeting time with Wrike and Sony reduced project delivery times by 40% and email time by 90%, but what about the bigger picture?

We found that numbers were up across the board in 2020 compared to 2019, and are still trending upwards in the first half of 2021. For instance, projects completed and tasks created have all increased post-COVID.

One thing all of these companies have in common is Wrike. CWM platforms provide better collaboration, extensive integrations, improved transparency, increased visibility, and, perhaps most notable, helpful automation features.

Over the past year, we’ve seen significant growth in the use of our automation capabilities. And it’s not surprising. By automating repetitive processes, our customers spend more time on high-value work, and less on administrative tasks. As a result, this saves the average worker hundreds of hours per year, improving productivity.

Wrike Founder Andrew Filev recently remarked, “What we’re seeing across enterprises is a strong CIO and leadership focus on establishing strategies that will enable the entire organization to work as one in a single digital workspace. By simplifying the way work gets done through sophisticated collaborative work management solutions, employees will have better visibility and alignment, make use of agile planning and execution, and realize OKRs and company objectives. It’s through this reimagination of ‘the future of work’ that companies will be able to achieve a happier workforce, no matter their location. And it’s well documented that happy employees demonstrate lower burnout and increased productivity levels.”

Instead of deploying all the apps, consider rolling out a more comprehensive, yet less complex, solution that offers a single source of truth to your employees.

If you do one thing on World Productivity Day, try Wrike for free and get ready to boost productivity throughout your entire organization.

Rory Schaff

Rory is the Director of Corporate Marketing at Wrike. She’s enjoyed roles in Wrike’s marketing department since 2019 when she came in as a senior social media manager. Before Wrike, Rory spent a decade in Silicon Valley working for various high-tech clients at a boutique public relations agency. Her interests lean toward branding, communications, and the art of storytelling. Rory works remotely in rainy Portland, Oregon where she lives with her husband and daughter.

#Employee Productivity

Remote Working 7 min read

Lessons from Remote Working We Shouldn’t Forget

It’s been almost 15 months since the WHO declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, the US borders closed to much of the rest of the world, and around 42% of 157 million US workers (almost 66 million) switched to working remotely full-time. While some experts argue that this has led to an unhealthy always-on culture and the rise of Zoom fatigue, we have learned a few very important lessons from remote working that we need to keep in mind as some of us choose to return to work in an office setting. As a result of the flexible remote work policies that have remained for many post-pandemic, many workers are moving to more affordable parts of their metro areas. In the cities of New York and San Francisco specifically, they are leaving the city completely, ditching high living costs for more affordable locations. But it hasn’t been the only major change the remote work revolution has brought. Even before the pandemic, achieving work-life balance had become the second most important factor for US workers in relation to choosing a company after compensation. And the blurred lines that a year of remote work (along with closed schools) brought have forced that further into focus. As Forbes shares, the increased acceptance of working from home may help our workforce to finally gain a better work-life balance. It’s no doubt that a year of remote work has changed both our lifestyles and our priorities greatly. So, what have we learned from the advantages of remote working? And what impact will that have on our decision of whether we want to be working from home or the office? A flexible remote work policy is a must for employers An interesting trend emerged when younger generations entered the workforce – they weren’t afraid to prioritize work-life balance. But what is even more important is that older employees are just as likely to want flexible working — they are just less likely to ask for it, according to The New York Times. In a report by Harvard Business School, the vast majority of the 11,000 workers and 6,500 business leaders surveyed listed expectations for flexible, autonomous work, better work/life balance, and remote work as the development most urgently affecting their businesses. Only 30% cited that they were prepared for these. And according to The Times, 50% of employees would quit if denied a flexible remote work policy, so it’s a shift that employers will need to pay serious attention to. Teams need the right tools working from home or the office Leaning into a year of remote work made it blisteringly obvious that not all employees had access to the right software. According to a report by Deloitte, employees who worked in a culture that encouraged innovation and had access to collaboration tools were 34% happier than those who did not. And although a third had requested better collaboration tools, only a third of these received a positive response to the request. Interestingly, when employees used the tools they were familiar with at home in the office, they reported increased productivity, higher engagement, and improved morale. [caption id="attachment_466139" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash[/caption] Achieving work-life balance is more important than ever When many employers initially feared that a move to working from home would lead to lower levels of productivity, study after study has found the opposite – employees get more done but only because they work longer hours. In fact, US workers are working on average three hours extra a day. The long-term result of this? Higher levels of burnout and decreased productivity. And in the short-term? Half of us (54%) are checking our devices more outside of work hours, feel more alone (24%), have gained weight (22%), and feel a decrease in our mental health (21%). The impact of these worrying trends from remote work has revealed that achieving a work-life balance is absolutely paramount for our health and happiness. It is vital that employers need to do what they can to encourage and promote this for their employees. Remote working has proved not every meeting is necessary Like it has done for achieving work-life balance, remote work has made it glaringly obvious that we need to use our time at work wisely. And often, that means clearing our calendar of unnecessary meetings. Recently, investment bank Citigroup announced a ‘Zoom-free’ Friday to ease the video call fatigue associated with our new ways of working. A large-scale study by Microsoft found that in about 30% of video meetings, employees interacted with their emails, while in 25% of meetings, they worked on other files such as documents. This was especially true for longer meetings and meetings held early in the day. Possibly the most important finding was that attendees of meetings that lasted 80 minutes or more were six times more likely to multi-task than those who were in meetings that lasted 20 minutes or less. Whether we are working from home or office, we need to be selective about how long our meetings need to be (or indeed, if the discussion requires a meeting at all). Employees need the choice of working from home or office It will come as no surprise that sharing a workspace with your children, pets, or spouse (sometimes in very small spaces) is not for everyone. The Society for Human Resources Management reminds that some employees are uncomfortable with the isolation of remote work. They share the example of The New York Times’ newspaper unit who prefer working from the office as it is what they are used to. According to The Wall Street Journal, around 25% of work time will be from home (versus 5% pre-pandemic). Meanwhile, Forbes shares a lengthy list of employers that are offering indefinite remote work. The main takeaway is that employees will inevitably have different preferences – the most important thing is that they are given a choice. We need to rethink how we use office space As a result of this choice and the reality that fewer employees will be in the office, organizations will no doubt need to rethink how they use their office space. And let’s face it, it’s a massive expense for employers – it can cost up to $595 per square foot. Even pre-pandemic, it’s estimated that around 30-40% of desks were typically unoccupied anyway. A study by WeWork found that post-COVID, most employees will want to split their time between the office, home, and other locations such as co-working spaces, libraries, or cafés. ComputerWeekly shares that a quarter of employers are planning to reduce their office space, while almost three-fifths say they planned to change meeting room layouts to make it easier for remote staff to participate in discussions, while 55% would add video-conference rooms. The biggest lesson from remote work whether we are working from home or office? This year of remote work has been the catalyst to readjust our relationship to work and how we work. In the next normal, employers will need to give employees the opportunity to decide where and how they work, prioritize work-life balance, and get the flexibility they need to do their best work.

Productivity 5 min read

7 Ways Wrike Customers Save Time, Money, and Increase Productivity by 150%

Wrike’s work management platform increases team efficiency at every level. Here’s how Wrike customers save time, money, and increase productivity by 150%.

Productivity 5 min read

40% More Efficient: Wrike Customers On The Productivity Software Features That Help Them Do Their Best Work

What are some of the daily tools you use to be more productive? Whether it’s a simple pen-and-paper to-do list or an expansive work management software, we all have our go-to solutions for getting work done more efficiently. When it comes to achieving productivity goals, Wrike customers unlock their teams’ potential with features like in-context proofing, timeline and resource management, and workflow automation. As the global workforce has migrated to a more flexible, hybrid-focused way of doing their jobs, we’ve come to rely on software more than ever to help us get more done. There are many challenges to working in a hybrid model, including communication breakdowns, workflow silos, and challenges in keeping up with processes and best practices. With this in mind, we wanted to share the features our customers use to combat these unique obstacles. Who has Wrike helped to be more productive? Wrike has helped over 20,000 organizations worldwide address their productivity challenges and do the best work of their lives, all with our intuitive work management platform. Our customers include household names like Fitbit, Sony Pictures Television, and Nickelodeon, who have all used Wrike’s features in different ways to leverage their teams’ incredible skills. Let’s take, for example, Sony Pictures Television, one of the world’s leading television content providers, with teams in every region of the globe. With such a widespread workforce, Sony found it challenging to scale and manage projects between teams, searching for over a year to find a tool that was flexible enough to manage work across different time zones, work styles, and team structures. With Wrike’s unique features, such as real-time reports, personalized dashboards, and Gantt charts and table views, Sony was able to reduce project delivery times by 40% and reduce their email time by 90%. Which Wrike features can help my team be more efficient? Wrike’s features enable teams in any industry, anywhere, to work together as one — no matter their individual goals or working styles. Users can customize their dashboards and workflows to suit them, enabling teams to fine-tune their processes and get more done, quicker. Features like workflow automation and our 400+ app integrations increase efficiency by simplifying request intake processes and eliminating productivity killers like task and context switching. How much time per day does your team waste searching for a document in an email thread or transferring files between multiple platforms so that different people can add their edits? With Wrike, teams can work on projects in one accessible, centralized hub. Our in-context proofing features mean every team, from creative to HR, can add their insight, without losing any valuable information and feedback. Wrike provides 360° visibility instantly, which is invaluable for team leaders who feel like their workload may be spiraling out of control. Choose how you visualize upcoming projects, tasks and deadlines, and see each member of your team’s dashboards for their individual workloads — making it easier to delegate and streamline from the very beginning. Struggling with request intake across teams? Custom request forms gather details, auto-create, and auto-assign tasks to the right team member, every time — no more confusion over who should handle what. Resource management in Wrike is simplified, too. Shared team calendars allow everyone to see where deadlines and milestones lie, while time-tracking allows users to clearly show how their workload is distributed. Use Wrike’s advanced analytics to monitor progress and team performance, with real-time updates and insights as the project progresses. How can Wrike help me to communicate better with my team? Breakdowns in communication can be one of the most common and debilitating challenges that a team can face during a project. From endless emails to muddled chat threads, the stress of finding the right information, or being unable to reach the right person, can leave teams feeling a lack of motivation to do their best work. With Wrike’s collaborative features, this is a thing of the past. @mentions, real-time editing and updates, and email and chat app integrations allow teams to have one source of truth to communicate from. Rest easy with the knowledge that your project’s deliverables are all being worked on in one place, with input from every relevant team member clearly displayed. Focusing on clear communication allows teams to feel heard and valued, which leads to increased productivity and motivation. Just how much can Wrike help with my organization’s productivity? Need some numbers? We hear you. Check out the below infographic to find out just how much time and effort Wrike can save you on your future projects. Want to find out more about how Wrike can help your team boost its productivity? Take a look at our free two-week trial.

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‘Less Is More’: The Key to Success This World Productivity Day

1. More productivity apps doesn’t mean a more productive workforce.

2. Collaborative work management software is the solution to these frustrations and essential for the future of work.

Rory Schaff

‘Less Is More’: The Key to Success This World Productivity Day

1. More productivity apps doesn’t mean a more productive workforce.

2. Collaborative work management software is the solution to these frustrations and essential for the future of work.

Rory Schaff

Related articles

Lessons from Remote Working We Shouldn’t Forget

7 Ways Wrike Customers Save Time, Money, and Increase Productivity by 150%

40% More Efficient: Wrike Customers On The Productivity Software Features That Help Them Do Their Best Work

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