Real-time messaging within PR and ad agencies is designed so their employees can make decisions faster and more efficiently, at least on paper. But it turns out that real-time messaging is a mixed bag and, in some cases, can be counterproductive, a new survey reveals.
Twenty-seven percent of end users and 23 percent of IT professionals say some employees are less productive because of real-time messaging, according to a biannual survey of IT professionals conducted by BetterCloud.
The survey, which was released last week, took the pulse of 801 business professionals, including 482 IT professionals and 319 end users. It found that nearly a quarter of respondents admit they either don’t know of don’t care whether IT has approved their real-time messaging.
Sure, boutique and smaller ad and PR agencies suffer from less hierarchy, with fewer opportunities for real-time messaging to get lost in the shuffle.
But the study begs a question for agency owners: To what degree is real-time messaging distracting employees from client work that must be monetized?
Perhaps you have to decide specifically how many real-time messaging tools your agency needs.
According to the survey, a majority of organizations (57 percent) use two or more real-time messaging applications while 20 percent of large enterprise companies use five or more real-time messaging applications. (Companies use multiple real-time messaging applications because different departments have different needs, the survey said.)
What agency owners need to gauge is whether multiple real-time messaging tools boost productivity in-house or stifle it. They also have to ensure—regardless of the size of the firm—that IT and the company’s end users are on the same page (and sympathetic to one another) when it comes to real-time messaging.
Crafting your real-time messaging strategy is not to be underestimated. It may very well hinge on how you communicate your business and value proposition.
According to the survey, 56 percent of respondents believe that real-time messaging will displace email as their organization’s primary workplace communication and collaboration.
What is more, 71% of small-to-medium sized businesses (1-1,000 employees) will not invest in another phone system at all or will not increase their investment.
So long, landline, we hardly knew you.