Clunky workplace tech is ruining meetings and impacting productivity

Technical failures during meetings hampering productivity, according to new research, yet organizations are failing to address the issue.

More than seven-in-ten IT leaders told Logitech that employees experienced technology issues such as failed audio or connection drops, with 30% saying they experienced them often or very often.

Researchers noted that these glitches have created at least one business cost for 94% of survey respondents, with 51% citing a loss of productivity. They slow meetings, create a support burden, interrupt collaboration, and create employee distrust.

"Leaders believe a strong workplace experience delivers outcomes such as improved collaboration and productivity. However, technology issues, inconsistent setups, and poor support create friction," the researchers said.

"We are in the middle of a monumental evolution in how we work, and the spaces that work today may not be the ones we need tomorrow. Employees want to be productive wherever they are, across every setting, remote, on-site, or split between, and those expectations keep moving."

But while leaders recognized the direct impact of workplace experience on productivity and collaboration, they said that siloed decision-making and delayed IT involvement are leading to widespread friction, lost time, and heightened security risks.

Although 86% linked strong workplace experience directly to improved productivity, and 90% to collaboration, only 58% felt confident they possessed the right ROI data to justify workplace experience and technology investments. Only 29% said they treated workplace experience as a core business strategy.

Workplace experience boosts productivity

Logitech also highlighted a gap between priorities and execution, with 87% saying collaboration between IT, HR, and real estate or facilities is very or extremely important for improving workplace experience.

Despite this, only 34% say their organization has a unified WX function that owns a shared roadmap for workplace investment decisions.

"When everyone owns a piece, no one owns the problem. With fragmented WX ownership, issues inevitably fall through the cracks. The friction impacts both workplace flow and the teams architecting the experience," the researchers said.

"Architecting the workplace for elevated experiences requires proactive planning. Yet, only one-in-four WX leaders involve IT and AV before space planning begins. That means most organizations design the office before thinking about the technology that has to support the people working in it."

Investing in workplace technology

Logitech said good planning means connecting workplace investments to measurable outcomes. This includes building a friction map to identify where employees lose time, such as starting a meeting, audio/video, room booking, device connection, space availability, meeting equity, or complex setups.

IT, HR, and real estate should come together early, with cross-functional teams sharing metrics before space planning begins. Workspaces should support both in-person and remote participants without requiring employees to troubleshoot the experience.

Ticket volumes, device performance, and delays to the start of meetings should be measured alongside standard employee experience metrics, and sensor and sentiment data should be combined to prove ROI and continuously adapt as business and employee demands continue to shift.

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