We’ve all been there – either scrolling on social media, checking our messages or daydreaming in meetings – but did you know that distractions are costing the UK economy a staggering £19.9 billion each year?
Having witnessed first-hand the challenge being faced by today’s event planners, the Custard team was delighted to develop a campaign on behalf of London’s QEII Centre, quantifying the level of distraction and providing the industry with some enlightening insight.
The Distracted Economy – a groundbreaking study of 1,000 UK desk-based workers – provides insight into the mindset of delegates. It reveals how to hold attention during business meetings and events as well as looking at whether we are more productive when we have the opportunity to be face to face.
Here are just some of the key findings we found most interesting.
- Distraction during online meetings costs the UK economy more (£11.1 billion) than in-person meetings (£8.8 billion).
- Over a third of people (38%) are concerned about their ability to be fully focused and fully concentrating during business meetings or events.
- Two-thirds (36%) of respondents believe that their work colleagues have become more easily distracted during in-person business meetings and events.
- 83% – of respondents openly admit to losing focus during in-person meetings, and 85% during online meetings.
- 40% of Senior management admit to being distracted for a third of the meeting.
- And good news for in-person meetings, The study revealed that the majority of respondents (49%) prefer in-person meetings over online alternatives whenever possible with more than half of the respondents (52%) agreeing that productivity is higher when everyone attends in-person meetings compared to online meetings.
For more information about this research or to access the complete report, please click here.
