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Harris Poll's Abbey Lunney SXSW
Harris Poll's Abbey Lunney SXSW

NEW YORK, March 8, 2023 (Newswire.com) - In the post-pandemic, hybrid-work world, business teams are spending more time communicating but doing it less effectively. That research finding, and the reasons for it, will be the subject of a talk at the SXSW Conference with Abbey Lunney, Managing Director of The Harris Poll Thought Leadership Practice.

Lunney will be part of a panel discussion titled "The Path to Productivity, Performance, and Profit through Business Communication," at 3 p.m. Friday, March 10, at conference venue Central City Brewing. The panel is part of a day-long series presented by Grammarly, developer of AI-enabled communication assistance for individuals and organizations.

Lunney will be joined on the panel by Grammarly's Kelly MacDougal to discuss the "2023 State of Business Communication Report," produced by Grammarly and The Harris Poll.   

The study's central finding is that communicating effectively at work is a growing challenge for U.S. businesses and employees. It examines the deepening effects of poor communication on everything from productivity to stress, confidence, and job satisfaction.

"We know that effective communication is essential to business success, and even more crucial than ever as businesses try to navigate today's market pressures just as workplaces undergo fundamental transformation," Lunney said. "Our analysis shows we're communicating more than ever across multiple channels — but that communication is becoming less and less effective." 

For example, the study finds that employees spent 18% more time year-over-year (YoY) communicating in writing, and that both workers and leaders are using communication channels that are not in real time. However, leaders report a 12% drop in the effectiveness of written communication over the same period — and a 15% decrease in productivity as a result.

Among the study's other detailed findings:

• Workers now spend over 70% of the workweek communicating on various channels.
• Most workers (58%) still wish they had better tools to be more effective. 
• The desire for better communication tools is consistent across generations and fields, specially Gen Z (63%), Millennial (65%), Tech (68%), and ESL (71%) respondents.
• More than 8 in 10 business leaders (84%) are feeling the downsides of poor communication, with lower productivity, missed deadlines, and increased costs ranking as the top three.
• Workers report increased stress (+7% YoY) due to poor communication.
• Most leaders (60%) and nearly half (45%) of workers say personal connections have suffered in the hybrid workplace.

The Grammarly report also provides several recommendations to resolve business communication problems, including recognizing that effective communication drives revenues; prioritizing tone and quality of communications to make collaboration more productive; and rethinking investments in communication tools and platforms.

If you are interested in an in-depth discussion about these results, join Abbey Lunney and the Grammarly team at SXSW on March 10 at the Central District Brewery or — for those of you not attending SXSW this year — sign up for a live webinar March 22 (register here).

About The Harris Poll

The Harris Poll is one of the longest-running surveys in the U.S., tracking public opinion, motivations, and social sentiment since 1963, and is now part of Harris Insights & Analytics, a global consulting and market research firm that delivers social intelligence for transformational times. We work with clients in three primary areas: building 21st-century corporate reputation, crafting brand strategy and performance tracking, and earning organic media through public relations research. Our mission is to provide insights and guidance to help leaders make the best decisions possible. To learn more, please visit www.theharrispoll.com.