Published on the 08/03/2018 | Written by Jonathan Cotton

When it comes to the myriad things “costing billions to the average business”, here’s something else to add to the list: Too many comm apps…

A new study of 2,000 knowledge workers across Australia, USA and the UK reveals that the very workplace apps intended to streamline tasks have sparked an app overload that’s “injecting chaos into business workflows and costing companies billions in lost productivity.”

The study, titled From Workplace Chaos to Zen: How App Overload Is Reshaping the Digital Workplace was conducted by CITE Research on behalf of RingCentral, and says that Australian workers use an average of four apps for communication purposes alone, with 19 percent of workers using a whopping six or more.

“Sixty-nine percent of workers, across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia (72 percent of Australians), waste up to an hour each day navigating between a myriad of communications apps, wasting 32 days per year,” says the report.

“To counter this app fragmentation, 66 percent of workers want a single communications platform that will bring a sense of productive zen to their workplace. However, the C-Suite is more likely to be content with their current suite of tools (44 percent), revealing a disconnect with the cultural shift to newer communications and collaborations solutions.”

“Most workers want a single communications platform…However, the C-Suite is more likely to be content with their current suite of tools, revealing a disconnect with the shift to new collaboration solutions.”

“Today’s flood of communications,” says the report, “has upended the modern workday, creating a sense of workplace chaos that’s taking a toll on employees and their companies.”

Serious stuff.

Adding to the problem, apparently more than 72 percent of Australian workers say the shear volume of their communications is a challenge to getting work done. 44 percent of Australian workers saying that even navigating across multiple programs makes their day more chaotic.

“Today’s workforce is under siege by a flood of communications apps,” frets Riadh Dridi, CMO of RingCentral. “More than ever, our attention is scattered across a wide array of different apps and communications channels.”

“These apps are meant to bolster our productivity, but managing a myriad of apps is proving difficult, with serious repercussions for businesses.”

Before you succumb to despair however, RingCentral, an Australian-based enterprise cloud solution provider says there is a way to cut through the chaos and get a bit more Zen in our workplace interactions: Unification.

“This new research reveals that workers demand a unified experience that brings together all modes of communications into a single platform that promotes better collaboration and that seamlessly integrates with their other business applications,” continues Dridi.

Specifically, the survey says that Australian employees believe a single platform – perhaps like the kind RingCentral sells – would help them achieve better workflow (65 percent), be more productive at work (63 percent), make work feel less chaotic (60 percent) and make it easier to work remotely (60 percent).

“This report confirms what we’re seeing in the workplace, employees prefer a singular, real-time communications platform that increases their productivity and workflow on a day-to-day basis,” said David Smith, Founder and Principal at InFlow Analysis.

“It maps back to the trend toward ‘conversational workspaces.’ Enterprises are striving to enable collaboration combined with real-time communications. As more businesses adopt these platforms, it will encourage workers to use these tools to get more work done with less effort.”

Read the full From Workplace Chaos to Zen: How App Overload Is Reshaping the Digital Workplace report.