Hate in-person meetings? Good, they cost thousands in lost productivity

Zoom
(Image credit: Zoom)

A new report by Zoom has revealed that in person meetings are both the most unpopular and the least productive of all collaborative methods, with many preferring instant messages instead.

Over a third of leaders lose more than an hour per day resolving problems caused by poor teamwork, which could be costing businesses up to £12,000 per manager per year.

Perhaps the least surprising news from the report is the claim that teams who use more than 10 apps are twice as likely to spend an hour or more resolving collaboration issues than those who use fewer than five apps.

Generational differences

All generations except Baby Boomers prefer non face-to-face collaboration, such as project management software or instant messaging. However, in person sessions still top the charts for boomers. Gen Z are the most burdened by follow ups, taking over an hour per day on project statuses.

To boost efficiency, some are turning to AI, with 67% using the technology at least a few times a week, and 74% of leaders feel this makes them more productive. Asynchronous collaboration methods like shared documents are the preference for 46% of AI users, as opposed to 20% of non-AI users.

Recent studies have hailed AI as a productivity booster, with Workday estimating the UK GDP could be £119 billion better off. The study found that a potential 2.9 hours per day could be saved using AI, which equates to 92 working days per year.

However, almost 93% of UK employees and leaders share concerns about trust in AI, with 38% needing more time to educate their teams, 32% feeling there is a lack of investment, and 38% having fears over privacy, safety, or bias.

More from TechRadar Pro

Ellen Jennings-Trace
Staff Writer

Ellen has been writing for almost four years, with a focus on post-COVID policy whilst studying for BA Politics and International Relations at the University of Cardiff, followed by an MA in Political Communication. Before joining TechRadar Pro as a Junior Writer, she worked for Future Publishing’s MVC content team, working with merchants and retailers to upload content.

Read more
A stressed employee looking over some graphs
UK workers are spending more than one day per week tracking down information
Stress
Remote workers are more productive and face less interruptions than their office-only co-workers
Team collaboration
Can we build closer connections with colleagues in the era of overwork?
A group of people video conferencing.
Transforming meetings: how technology is bridging the engagement gap
Group of businesspeople negotiating gathered in modern conference room, blurred silhouettes view, meeting behind closed glass doors. Business communication, workflow, decision-making, strategy sharing
Many workers aren't sure how much their companies are set up to help them be productive
Zoom
Zoom wants you to drop Microsoft Office and Google Workspace for its new AI software tools
Latest in Pro
Adobe Firefly
Adobe launches game-changing GenAI tools for video editing
Adobe AI agents
Adobe launches 10 new AI agents to automate key marketing workflows
An Android phone being held in the hand
These malicious Android apps were installed over 60 million times - here's how to stay safe
ransomware avast
Billions of credentials were stolen from businesses around the world in 2024
Avast cybersecurity
An unpatched Windows zero-day flaw has been exploited by 11 nation-state attackers
ID theft
Hackers claim Orange attack, threaten to leak 1TB of data
Latest in News
Google Pixel 9a
Google just launched the Pixel 9a – and I reckon it embarrasses the iPhone 16e
Adobe Firefly
Adobe launches game-changing GenAI tools for video editing
Adobe AI agents
Adobe launches 10 new AI agents to automate key marketing workflows
Windows 10
Microsoft gets into the spam game by again emailing Windows 10 users to prod them to upgrade to Windows 11 – is the nagging going too far now?
Jia-Xin "Jay" Zhong, a postdoctoral scholar of acoustics at Penn State, used a dummy with microphones in its ears to measure the presence or absence of sound along an ultrasonic trajectory.
A wild new sound tech promises to create 'personal' sound only you can hear, but without headphones
An Android phone being held in the hand
These malicious Android apps were installed over 60 million times - here's how to stay safe