Ever Eaten a Reality Sandwich or Actually Put Your Ducks in a Row? Of Course Not. American Express OPEN Wonders Why We Keep T...
June 15 2017 - 6:23AM
Business Wire
Have you ever heard a coworker say something like, “It ladders
up to our overarching framework and optimizes the impactfulness of
our deliverables,” and wondered, “HUH?” You’re not alone. In a
survey of America’s office workers by American Express OPEN, 88
percent admit to pretending to understand office jargon, even when
they really have no idea what it means. Yet two-thirds (64%) still
say they use jargon words or phrases multiple times a week.
Jargon junkies fail to use real words and regularly cause
confusion (also known as “reverse-leveraging clarity initiatives”),
but they aren’t the only barrier standing in the way of business
today. The American Express OPEN ‘Get Business Done’ Survey looked
into office culture habits to uncover the idiosyncrasies that keep
us from getting more business done.
Meetings About Meetings About Emails
We’ve all been to a less-than-productive meeting, but more than
one-third of employees spend nearly 1,200 hours a year in meetings
they call “pointless.” That amounts to losing 150 work days or 30
work weeks each year to meetings.1
When employees check out of a meeting, they tend to daydream
about things like groceries and islands. Top distractions of choice
include thinking about running errands (43%), taking a vacation
(32%), wondering “what were they thinking?” about coworkers’
wardrobes (29%) or inserting a witty joke to make the meeting more
fun (27%) - because nothing says productivity like a well-timed
pun.
When workers finish their meetings for the day, they stay
plugged in outside of regular work hours to catch up. Employees
admit they’ve responded to work email at less-than-productive times
of day: after 10pm (36%), on vacations (36%), while out on dates
(15%), and even as late as 3am (19%). All the best decisions come
after the bars close, right?
After all that time spent in meetings and on email, it’s no
surprise workers most often call in “sick” just to take a mental
health day (35%). We all need a little pampering sometimes.
Culture Eats Strategy’s Lunch
Meetings and email are predictably maligned office activities,
but other productivity barriers are less obvious. The over-sharing
of cat videos and the constant monitoring of breaking news also
compete with real work: over half of office workers (52%) say
social media hinders their output (surprise!) and 30 percent are
glued to the news. That rush of dopamine from phone alerts is
really addictive. Workers even admit to some bizarre office
offenses that can unexpectedly affect productivity, ranging from
having eaten someone else’s lunch out of the fridge (18%) to
stealing a parking spot (18%) to not cleaning up the microwave
after use (17%).
Getting to “Yes”
In addition to all the other unproductive office behaviors, we
also often say "no" without actually saying it. When we
blame it on “logistical concerns” or “budgetary issues,” it’s like
“yes” can’t even get through the door. More than 3 in every 10
workers (31%) say ideas are shut down too quickly in their office
and more than half (52%) agree with the statement, “our internal
office culture creates a lot of barriers to executing good
ideas.”
Get Business Done
There are clearly issues impeding momentum, and company leaders
and employees can start to address these obstacles. Lynn Taylor,
workplace expert and bestselling author, has partnered with
American Express to provide tips on how workers today can take
action to remove barriers and improve productivity:
- Be Real – Everyone can be more
productive and engender more trust by avoiding rampant business
jargon. Office “babblespeak” just adds unnecessary distance between
coworkers. Consider if we all spoke like that at a party! Try being
more human, conversational and approachable at work, which will
make everyone happier and likely lead to better results.
- Resist Meeting Mania – Few
things halt morale more than endless, yawn-worthy meetings where
employees privately attempt to reverse their sleep deprivation.
Instead, be more strategic about meeting goals and consider brief
one-on-one discussions, calls or emails. Conduct necessary meetings
only with those who really need to attend, and be thoughtful about
email distribution and blasts.
- Focus – With the ever-growing
number of apps, social media platforms, adorable videos and
mind-boggling news headlines, it’s a wonder that anything gets
done. Remember that success depends on the ability to rise above
the noise. The more disruptions you can block out of your work
flow, the better.
- Catch Yourself Saying “No” –
Managers and team members should all take greater notice each time
an idea is turned down or a new convenient way to say “no” is found
– which can often be passive-aggressive. A more emotionally
intelligent approach is to acknowledge an idea and give it some
genuine thought. Few ideas come out perfectly when first spoken,
but after many iterations, they can create momentum and unexpected
breakthroughs – if only given a chance.
Despite the many hurdles, businesses are constantly evolving to
meet the challenges of today’s fast-moving, action-oriented
business environment.
“At Amex, we understand and face many of the same workplace
challenges that are affecting offices across the country,” said
Courtney Kelso, Senior Vice President, Global Strategy, Brand, and
Field Enablement, American Express OPEN. “From meeting culture to
days where ‘no’ is the most popular word, we want to highlight
these workplace barriers and help our customers overcome them to be
more productive and get more business done.”
To highlight the everyday absurdities that stand in the way of
productivity, American Express OPEN is launching a campaign that
features the real struggles we all face in the office with videos,
social media content and a series from workplace expert Lynn Taylor
on OPEN Forum. Current TV spots set to begin airing
include:
- Say No To No and Get Business Done
(:30)
- Say No To No and Get Business Done
(:15)
- Say Yes To Getting Business Done
(:30)
- Say Yes To Getting Business Done
(:15)
- Jargon (:30, exclusively on social
media)
Survey Methodology
The American Express OPEN Get Business Done Survey findings are
based on a survey conducted by Morar Consulting fielded across the
US between May 30th – June 5th, 2017. For this survey, 1,061
employees were asked about their views regarding “jargon” words
usage, distractions, idea barriers and office personalities in the
workspace. The study targeted employees who work in an office of 5+
people in multiple industries. Respondents were recruited through a
number of different mechanisms, via different sources to join the
panels and participate in market research surveys. All panelists
have passed a double opt-in process and complete on average 300
profiling data points prior to taking part in surveys. Respondents
are invited to take part via email and are provided with a small
monetary incentive for doing so. Results of any sample are subject
to sampling variation. All data points were rounded for the
purposes of reporting.
About American Express OPEN
American Express OPEN offers the money, tools and know-how to
help you get business done. Through innovative products and
services, we help businesses with short-term financing, business
management tools, cross border payments, global currency solutions
and travel. Learn more about American Express OPEN
at www.OPEN.com.
1Based on 37% of respondents saying that they spend between 3-8
hours a day in “pointless” meetings, which is a median average of 5
hours a day across the 240 working days in a year.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170615005558/en/
John McLaughlin, 212-539-3236johnm@mbooth.com
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