Businesses waste a full-time working week setting up video calls
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Research by MAXHUB found that of the 2,000 UK employees, most (59%) take up to 10 minutes to set up video conference calls.
While this may not sound like much, the company says it amounts to 200 minutes per month — or 40 hours per year — based on the five meetings per week that more than a third (34%) of employees say they have.
In addition, most 18-24 year-olds (78%) took up to 10 minutes, as opposed to only 57% of 55-64 year-olds. This isn’t necessarily an indication of technology skills – the former may be more diligent in their preparations, and the latter may face difficulties later in their conversations.
Inadequate settings
The report found that employees often had mixed feelings about the audiovisual (AV) technology available to them. Nearly a third (28%) felt they weren’t being given the right tools for their jobs, and just under a quarter (23%) said they felt excluded from remote meetings because of the inadequate technology they were dealing with.
More than half (54%) said having the right tools would be a bottleneck when taking on a new role, especially for the 18-24 demographic, where nearly three-quarters (74%) said it was a deal breaker would be.
Tony McCool of MAXHUB explained that as hybrid working has taken hold in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies are not adapting fast enough by providing their employees with the right technologies for remote conferencing and collaboration purposes.
In terms of collaboration, MAXHUB claimed that the lack of sufficient technology for hybrid work is negatively impacting workplace collaboration, as it stifles the ability of employees — both remote and in the office — to communicate and collaborate just as effectively. as in person.
When MAXHUB further researched video conferencing technology, MAXHUB found that ease of use was ranked as a top priority by 48% of respondents, with 37% citing instant meeting initiation without technology delays as essential to successful hybrid working. 37% also found having a good microphone essential for clarity and audibility in meetings.