'Emotional overhead' costing businesses valuable time, productivity: Survey

As the modern workplace becomes increasingly digital, a new study has found that more than a third of the workforce is losing over 40 hours a year trying to decode and interpret what their colleagues are trying to say, essentially equating to a full work week lost.

Atlassian, a provider of team collaboration software, surveyed 10,000 knowledge workers across India, US, Australia, Germany and France, for research, which highlighted the hidden costs of miscommunication in today's digital-first work environment.

"This is what we call ‘emotional overhead’, the wasted time and emotional turmoil caused by unclear or ambiguous communication, and poses a serious challenge for businesses. In the time that knowledge workers are wondering what their colleagues mean to say or what their manager wants from them, they could be doing mission-critical work," said Molly Sands, head of Teamwork Lab, Atlassian.

Despite the distributed nature of modern work, email remains the tool of choice for many respondents, with 93% of workers regularly relying on written communication tools like email and instant messaging. And, yet 61% of workers also admit that written communication is most susceptible to miscommunication, highlighting the need for greater clarity and intentionality in digital messaging.

When teams communicate with emotion, workers are 3x more likely to be highly productive. In fact, when emojis are an important part of company culture, 78% of respondents admit they’re more likely to read a chat message with emojis or open an email if there’s one in the subject line.

The research also revealed 65% of workers surveyed used emojis to help convey their intended tone or set the vibe. There is a generational split here with 88% of Gen Z workers saying emojis are helpful when communicating with colleagues, while only 49% of Boomers agree. This difference is also evident in how emoji use impacts motivation, with 68% of Gen Z feeling more motivated when their messages receive emoji reactions.

“Given the significant productivity and connective gains teams experience, business leaders are well-advised to encourage their teams to bring emotion into their workplace communication," said Sands.