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Communication Trends of Business Professionals

An International Study Conducted by Plantronics

HOW WEWORK: Plantronics is a world leader in personal audio communications for professionals and consumers.

From Unified Communication solutions to Bluetooth® headsets, Plantronics delivers unparalleled

audio experiences and quality that reflect our nearly 50 years of innovation and customer

commitment. Plantronics is used by every company in the Fortune 100 and is the headset of choice

for air traffic control, 911 dispatch and the New York Stock Exchange. For more information, please

visit www.plantronics.com or call 1-800-544-4660.

© 2010 Plantronics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Business as usual today means global workforces, telecommuting, flex time, and

an anywhere-anytime attitude about office time and place.

So it’s no surprise that the ways we brainstorm, collaborate and even chat around the water cooler have also been transformed...

B

Interestingly and contrary to the typical technology lifecycle,

new communications tools aren’t replacing the old today —

there are no Betamax-style extinctions. New tools are instead

partnering productively with the tried-and-true ways of

conversing and collaborating.

All respondents indicated a strong preference for utilizing a

mix of the traditional and new communications technologies:

sending IMs to get a simple question answered, scheduling an

audio conference to gain consensus on an important topic,

firing a quick text to let a colleague know they’re running late.

Rather than connecting via just one form of communication,

professionals are creating “tool belts” that enable them to

select exactly the right tool for the job at hand.

As communication options and needs increase, clear

preferences have emerged regarding the best ways to

exchange specific types of information. The modern

communications tool belt includes:

• PhoneandAudioConferences: Conveying complex

information clearly, clarifying meaning, collaborating,

building relationships, priority communications

• VideoandWebConferences:Brainstorming, collaboration,

planning, presentations

•Email: Check-ins, status reports, follow-up, group

communications, attachments

• IM: Presence information, check-in (“R U there?”),

simple query

• Text(SMS): Uncomplicated time-sensitive information

• SocialMedia: Networking, news updates

Telecommuting and flexible schedules have transformed “office”

from a fixed place to a state of mind. 90% of the surveyed

Enterprise Employees stated that they spend at least some time

working off site — almost 30% percent spent up to half their time

working outside of their official office space, while the majority

(46%) spent 25% or less of their time off site.

No matter where workers are, the vast majority are expected to

be present in meetings either online or via voice call-in at least

once a week. Following the growing trend away from automation-

based business and towards knowledge-based economies that

are centered on innovation, skills and ideas, the primary focus of

most meetings now (according to 91% of survey respondents),

is brainstorming. This was followed by status updates (89%),

presentations (86%) and project planning (80%).

Phe Plantronics study, “How We Work: Communication

Trends of Business Professionals” confirms that

business has never had more to say or more ways

in which to say it. Working with colleagues across borders

and time zones, in businesses fueled by ideas rather than

automation, professionals are certainly putting all these

technologies to frequent — almost constant — use. In fact,

78% of those polled said their email usage had dramatically

increased over the past five years — the biggest jump of all the

communication methods. Many also said that they were using

audio and web conferencing far more frequently (69% and 67%

reported an increase in usage). Increases in Instant Messaging

(64%), Social Media (61%), Texting (58%), and speaking during

a video conference (54%), show that we stay in touch across a

range of different mediums and tools.

Why are professionals communicating more than ever

before? It’s a reflection of how people work today — and the

permanently blurred line between their business and personal

lives. Nine-to-five is a distant memory, and many people expect

to conduct business during their waking ho urs (and sometimes

beyond) throughout the entire year.

The Communications Tool Belt

Video Conferencing

69%

78%

67%

64%

61%

58%

54%

Social Media

IM

Web Conferencing

Audio Conferencing

Email

Texting

INCREASES IN CoMMUNICATIoN USAgE SINCE 2005

90% of the surveyed Enterprise Employees stated that they spend at least some time working off site

Working off siTe:

1/4ofThEIrTIMEorlESS MorEThAnhAlfThEIrTIME

nonEofThEIrTIME1/4TohAlfofThEIrTIME

10%

17%

27%

46%

83%

33%

81%

19%

IM

Vs

PHone & eMAiL LiVe on!WhatContributesMosttoSuccessandProductivityatWork

T

originally intended to be nothing more than a sort of

virtual sticky note when it was introduced in 1965,

and quite probably the killer application that got

the general populace interested in the Internet, it’s hard to

remember how we did business in the pre-email days, back

when we’d actually ask people, “Do you have an email address?”

99% of “How We Work” respondents said they regularly send

and receive email on their personal computers, making it the

most popular business communications and collaboration

tool. Email via mobile devices was almost as popular with 81%

usage among respondents.

But although virtually everyone uses email, they don’t want to

use it all the time. When professionals are looking for the right

tool to use when communicating critical news or working in a

highly collaborative situation, they are unlikely to choose email.

Why? Partly due to the immediacy of voice and video, but

there’s another reason: email is likely to cause communications

confusion and anxiety.

4 out of 10 respondents confessed that they have received

emails that made no sense whatsoever no matter how hard

or long they squinted at their computer or devices’ screen.

72% of those polled said that they have had to follow-up an

unintelligible email with a phone call to clarify an issue and 42%

have had similar problems with IM communications; reporting

that the biggest complaint about IM was that it distracted from

an important task or conversation.

Email is King, Except for Critical Info and Collaboration

Half of those polled (50%) said that a misunderstood email message “caused tension” in a relationship.

42% 39%

57%

Received a large

volume of email on a

single topic that was

overwhelming

72%

Have had to follow up

an unintelligible email

with a phone call

Received an IM at

work that diverted

attention from an

important matter

Have been unable to

efficiently gain group

consensus via email

EMAIl CoMMUNICATIoNS CAUSES CoNFUSIoN AND ANxIETY

And, half of those polled (50%) said that a misunderstood email

message “caused tension” in a relationship. It would be easy

to blame this befuddlement on a general lack of writing skills,

but we don’t seem to struggle to understand other types of

written communications.

The study findings show professionals have clear preferences

regarding communication tools that contribute to their success.

83% of surveyed professionals said that email is “critical/very

important” to their overall success and productivity. 81% said

the phone is “critical/very important” to their overall success

and productivity. These two seemingly declining methods of

communication outpaced everything else by 20 percentage

points or more.

So, while newer communication tools are being utilized heavily,

workers still rely on more traditional modes to be successful in

their roles.

And what about in-person meetings? Although many pundits

claim that social media and new technology innovations are

diminishing the value of face-to-face conversations, the study

findings show this isn’t prevalent in business. For example, if the

conversation is about closing a deal or making a mission-critical

decision, 77% of those polled said they would prefer to do it in

person. And of those polled, 65% said they preferred talking in

person when discussing complicated technical concepts and

64% would rather do their brainstorming in person.

In fact, 53% of all respondents said that they spend 10+ hours on

the phone each week. How can that be if one-to-one phone calls

have declined? The need for collaboration: 83% said that they

dial into an audio conference “frequently/all the time” for work.

And, to demonstrate that desk phones aren’t collecting dust, 56%

said that most calls were made via a desk phone, followed by

mobile phone (39%) and softphone (5%).

Whensomethingisurgentandcan’twait,pickupthephone. An overwhelmingmajority of those polledsaidaphonecallgetstheirimmediateattention.

More Tools, But Users Are in Control

50% 35% 23%AudIoAndVIdEoConfErEnCIng

28% 64% 77%fACE-To-fACE

1%21%EMAIl,IMAndTExTIng

AonlYgoESSofArATWorK.ProfESSIonAlSPrEfEr...

forSTATuSMEETIngS

forbrAInSTorMIng

CloSIngdEAlS&MAKIngdECISIonS

o

& Respondents’ replies to questions posed in the “How We Work” study

revealed clear cultural preferences regarding how different types of

information can and should be best conveyed. However, there were

just as many global commonalities identified, particularly among

the communications tools respondents cited as indispensable for

collaboration, productivity and overall success.

• Respondents based in China and India reported the greatest

overall growth in their business communications usage.

• Emailandvoicerankedfirstandsecondintheline-upofbusiness

tools in nearly every country. The only exception was India, where

audio conferences were slightly preferred over email.

• 91%ofthosepolledintheUK,90%inChina,87%inIndia,85%

in Australia and 80% in germany said that if you really need that

answer now, don’t send a text or an email. . .make a phone call.

Social Media Businessgiven the meteoric rise of social media, many have speculated that the likes of Facebook

and Twitter will quickly surpass existing methods of communication. The study results

show that while social media is used heavily for personal communications, usage for

business purposes remains quite low. While 66% of respondents said they use social

media all the time or frequently for personal use, only 43% said they use it for

business use.

Additionally, those surveyed said that the communications activity least critical to

business productivity was posting and/or reading updates on social/professional

networking sites and blogs.

American and Australians were the least likely groups among those polled to use social

media for business networking, with more than half reporting their use as “not very

often” or “never”. Micro blogging through services such as Twitter was particularly

unpopular with Australians; 74% reported using it “not very often” or “never” for

business-centered communications. Americans were close behind with 63%.

Posting or reading updates on popular social/professional networking sites and blogs was identified as the least critical communications activity for business productivity.

• Chinese,IndianandAmericanworkers(38%onaverage),arethe

most likely to experience misunderstandings due to messages

sent via SMS/IM. germans are the least likely to be mystified by

SMS/IM missives (15%).

• Australians say that they are the most likely (62%) to experience

email-inspired confusion.

• 2 out of 3 Chinese respondents who have access to video

conferencing said that they utilize it “all the time” or “frequently”

to conduct business.

• Australians were the only group who preferred in-person

communications regardless of the reason for the meeting or the

conversation. Indian and Chinese employees are least likely to

prefer in-person communication.

global CommunicationWE’rEnoTASSoCIAl ATWorKASWE’VEbEEnlEdTobElIEVE

ALL OF THE TIME/FREQUENTLY

NOT VERY OFTEN/NEVER

CHINA

INDIA

UK

gERMANY

USA

AUSTRAlIA

58%

57%

45%

44%

31%

65%

WHo USES VIDEo CoNFERENCINg oN A FREqUENT BASIS?

REAllY NEED THAT ANSWER NoW? DoN’T SEND A TExT oR AN EMAIl. . .MAKE A PHoNE CAll.

91%Uk

90%CHinA

85%AUsTrALiA

80%gerMAny

87%indiA

66%

43%

57%

34%

MethodologyTo understand how business is communicating in the

midst of these changes, Plantronics surveyed 1,800

enterprise employees in the US, UK, germany, China,

India and Australia. All work in medium or large-size

companies (100+ employees) and identified themselves

as knowledge workers (people whose work centers on

developing/working primarily with ideas and information)

who use a variety of communications technologies to

stay in touch with colleagues, partners and clients. The

research was conducted in May and June of 2010.