Roadworks and jams killing productivity

Nearly a third of Exeter professionals (30%) identified traffic jams as a productivity killer to their working day, according to the latest report by the world’s largest flexible workspace provider Regus.

The survey asked 3,000 business people in the UK about interruptions and distractions at work.

In fact, travel-related grievances feature heavily in the results; transport delays (23%), and road works (26%) were also shown to be prohibitive to productivity.

Other prominent distractions include lengthy meetings and dealing with incoming cold calls, both of which were highlighted by high numbers of respondents (40% and 47% respectively).

For nearly half (48%) working from home is the answer to finding a productive environment to work outside of the main office.   This rises to 73% for the lucky few who are able to invest in a professional home office. Cafés, with their associated issues of lack of privacy, unreliable internet connection, and background noise, score poorly at just 4%,

Richard Morris, UK CEO, Regus comments: “Having the option to work from different locations can be enormously beneficial for many professionals – not least by helping them to avoid arduous commutes. However, the challenge is in finding the right environment outside of the office to allow people to remain just as, if not more so, productive.

“For those without a purpose-built home office, business centres, with their professional, productive working environments, provide an answer. Not only can workers save time by choosing a location closer to home, many also find that being away from the main office means they are less interrupted by colleagues looking to have impromptu updates and meetings. Business centres allow busy workers the peace and functionality they need, when they need it.”

Barry Paschali, Director of Energy and Environment Consultancy Paschali and a Regus customer said: “I’ve been a Regus customer for several years and find the business centre location the most productive for my company. I’m one of those people who needs a work/home divide – it’s easy to get distracted at home – so working from my local Regus centre suits my personality. The Regus set-up also caters to the needs of the business as we have the flexibility take on more space as the company grows and the peace of mind that all the extra facilities such as wi-fi, meetings rooms, refreshments, photocopying etc are all taken care of.”