Tired of waiting for files to load? You are not alone. A recent survey of 2,000 Brits found that most workers lose patience after less than 60 seconds of waiting for slow technology. This results in lost productivity since impatience causes many workers wonder off, lose track of what they were doing or otherwise take a break from what they were working on. This bogs down productivity and can create project management nightmares.

Uploading and opening files were the two major causes of employee frustration, accounting for a total of 38 percent of the reasons cited for losing patience. Slow computers and computer crashes were other common complaints. Not only did most people lose patience after 60 seconds, 32% of those surveyed lost patience after only 30 seconds.

So what happens after people lose patience? The survey found that impatience quickly led to other diversions. A third of those tired of waiting decided to take a toilet break. Twenty-nine percent wander off in search of a beverage. By the time they decide to get back to work, 12 percent of workers have forgotten what they were doing and 40 percent decide to postpone what they were working on. A third of workers opt to work on something else.

Obviously, the first step in preventing delays from ruining productivity see if your company’s computers and networks are, quite literally, up to speed. Slow internet can also bog down your workers and leave them spending too much time fixing beverages and not enough on actual work. Consider using cloud storage rather than a network. This is much more cost efficient than investing in major server upgrades. Cloud storage gives you virtually unlimited amounts of storage without worrying about a large amount of storage slowing down access speeds. It also gives workers the option to access information from home, on the road, or wherever they’re working.

Taking Time to Save Time

If your projects are taking longer than you expect, perhaps it’s time to consider your team might not be to blame. This is not a minor issue. The patience-destroying technology slowdowns aren’t rare events. Of those surveyed, 26 percent had run-ins with technology at least every couple of days. Almost half had problems at least once per week.

While these may seem like minor issues, it is important to look at how your company is being hurt by cumulative time loss and damage to project momentum. Small changes like switching to secure online storage in the cloud and online collaboration software can make a huge difference in the amount of time employees waste waiting for documents to load.

Consistent document storage protocols are also important to ensure your team can find the files they need. As impatient as workers may get while waiting for files to load, this is nothing compared to the frustration of not being able to find a document or waiting for a file to load, only to realise it was the wrong file. Project management software can help reduce time lost trying to track down files.

Facilitating Remote Work

Employees working remotely and away from their normal working location can sometimes struggle with download time. Having to rely on often spotty internet connections in hotels or other sites just makes the problem worse. But not only does Glasscubes give your workers better options for quick file access, by organising projects better, you’ll save time on project tracking a management. Furthermore, you can work offline, safe in the knowledge that your contribution will sync up with the rest of your team’s as soon as you go back online.

Impatience while waiting for files to load may seem like a drop in the ocean compared to other expenses but the cumulative costs in lost time could be far greater. What is harder to quantify is the diminished work quality that develops when employees continue to face system delays and interruptions.

Glasscubes is a user-friendly collaboration software for teams. Connect everyone that you work with in an online workspace that improves the way you share files, manage projects and communicate with each other.

For more information, contact us by calling +44 (0)20 3274 2310 or email us at enquiries@glasscubes.com

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