Study: Coworkers Significantly Affect Productivity at Work

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Aug 6, 2014) - Taskworld, a leading task management platform, announces the results of its 2014 Productivity Impact Study looking at how often productivity on the job is affected by coworkers. The survey found that nearly half of the workforce attributes a decline in performance to missed deadlines of coworkers.

Key findings in the study dig deeper into the impact of the viral effect of low productivity in the office, determining that it can create a vicious cycle as frustration over missed deadlines grows. With 50 percent of respondents reporting their coworkers' performance affects their individual performance, 48 percent of respondents noted they are often frustrated by coworkers not meeting deadlines. 61 percent of respondents also reported that their coworkers' performance is only measured annually. The cycle is clearly demonstrated in these findings: the frustration created by a lack of productivity from coworkers can lead to lack of productivity in typically higher performers as their frustration grows.

"Our study proves employees often feel the effects of how timely their colleagues complete tasks," Taskworld CEO Fred Mouawad said. "The missing piece to this is the opportunity to hold coworkers and teams more accountable with actionable feedback. As an organization, we strive to not only provide workers with a platform that allows them to feel connected and in-the-loop with colleagues on important tasks and assignments, but also freely rate work performance as tasks are completed, thus providing constant feedback."

Additional findings from the report include:

Deadlines are crucial
Survey findings indicate missed deadlines are detrimental to office productivity. Missed deadlines require additional follow-up, unnecessary emails and project delays.

• 19 percent of respondents reported spending 1-3 additional hours per week following up on the status of projects and tasks
• Missed deadlines resulted in a project delay of 1-3 days, on average
• 75 percent of respondents found themselves waiting on coworkers more than occasionally to complete a work related task

Rethink how the team communicates
Collaboration is an important factor in the workplace. In-person meetings require a large chunk of an employee's time -- an online collaboration platform can help to eliminate unnecessary meetings and ultimately save more time for the work at hand.

• 21 percent of respondents reported meeting with coworkers 1-3 hours each week to discuss the status of current projects. Further, more than 10 percent of respondents report meeting with coworkers more than 3 hours each week on the status of individual projects.

For more information on Taskworld, visit www.taskworld.com

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between July 21-27, 2014 among 1,000 adults ages 18 or over.