The top 7 office distractions costing UK businesses £250m a year

Loud talkers, the phone ringing and tea rounds are costing UK businesses a whopping £250m a year.

According to research from Samsung Electronics UK and the University of Leeds, workers are unproductive for 70 days of the year, with respondents admitting they only feel like they’ve actually achieved something on an average of 3.6 days a week.

Also, almost a quarter (22%) claim they interrupt their workflow every 22 minutes to check their emails and over a third of workers (38%) admitting they check at least every 15 minutes.

According to the research, the top seven office distractions are:

1. Loud talkers – 57%

2. The phone ringing – 39%

3. Unnecessary meetings – 26%

4. Constant stream of emails – 22%

5. Making tea rounds – 18%

6. Office gossips – 16%

7. People typing loudly – 12%

Graham Long, vice president of Samsung’s Enterprise Business Team said: “£250 million is a big loss to the UK economy so it’s important that businesses recognise that having the right mix of technology in the workplace and fully enabling mobile working can positively impact employee productivity and engagement.’’