Most Office Workers: ‘That Meeting Probably Should Have Been an Email’

 While meeting online or in-person is important for certain objectives, many meetings appear to be unnecessary. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of office workers say most meetings for work can easily be addressed in an email or via a collaborative tool instead, according to a recent survey conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Fusion Connect among 800 office workers.

Fusion Connect commissioned the survey to determine how — after nearly two years of working remotely — workers really feel about the work environments of the present and future.

“As companies return to the office this month and start what will be a permanent hybrid work environment, they need to know what really makes their teams productive and happy,” said George Schoenstein, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Fusion Connect. “The office is a much different place now than it was two years ago. Employees working remotely want to be engaged with their counterparts in the office, but they also want to use the same asynchronous collaboration tools that made them successful during the pandemic.”

Here are some key findings from the survey:

• Workers juggle multiple communications channels. More than 4 in 5 office workers (84%) use at least two communication channels for work, with 18% saying they use five or more.
• Not all hybrid workers are working from home. While 88% of hybrid office workers say they regularly work from their home, many say they regularly work from a flexible/shared workspace (20%) or coffee shop (16%).
• Personal device use is more common among hybrid workers. Half of office workers (50%) say they use a personal device for work. Hybrid workers are much more likely than non-hybrid workers to report this (61% vs. 46%).
• Hybrid workers feel they work more hours. Roughly a third of hybrid workers (34%) feel they work more hours than peers doing the same job who are not hybrid.
• Virtual collaboration tech issues hurt productivity for some. Nearly a third of office workers (31%) say dealing with technology issues related to collaborating with others has negatively impacted their productivity. Fully remote (39%) and hybrid workers (38%) are significantly more likely to report a negative impact on productivity than 100% on-site workers (23%).

“Understanding where your employees are working and the tools that make them resilient, secure, and productive is critical,” said Schoenstein. “Businesses need to give all workers, especially those who are working remotely, a set of collaborative tools that work on any device, including personal devices, that are agile and yet secure enough to protect critical business information from cyber-attacks.”

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