Employers are always on a quest for higher productivity. They examine what kind of technology, office design, organizational structure, time management training, etc. will boost performance and the bottom line. But no matter how careful an organization is, distractions can derail even the best laid plans. CareerBuilder recently released a study on what it calls the top 10 productivity killers at work. Ironically, measures intended to boost performance are often the very things killing productivity. 
For example, mobile devices, the Internet, and social media are important tools to help employees get their work done, but those things often create distractions. Also, a culture of collaboration—an environment that encourages people to meet and talk face to face—is considered a plus, but all that collaboration is distracting when coworker conversations veer off track and noise levels rise.
Common distractions
Here are the top 10 productivity inhibitors CareerBuilder named after conducting a national survey of 2,138 hiring managers and human resource professionals as well as 3,022 full-time, private-sector workers across industries and company sizes.
- Cell phone/texting.
- Gossip.
- The Internet.
- Social media.
- Snack breaks or smoke breaks.
- Noisy coworkers.
- Meetings.
- E-mail.
- Coworkers dropping by.
- Coworkers putting calls on speaker phone.
The survey also listed measures employers use to lessen productivity-killing distractions. Seventy-three percent of the employers surveyed reported that they took steps to prevent distractions with some common measures including:
- Blocking certain Internet sites.
- Prohibiting personal calls or personal use of cell phones.
- Monitoring e-mails and Internet usage.
- Scheduling lunch and break times.
- Allowing people to telecommute.
- Limiting meetings.
- Restricting use of speaker phones if not in an office.
- Implementing an open-space layout instead of cubicles.
Office design and distractions
Even though using an open-space office design is one tactic employers use to cut down on productivity killers, the trend has its downsides. Workers in an open space may not engage in the kind of time-wasting activities made possible by privacy, but employees can be burdened by the distractions that come from a lot of people working in confined space.
A 2013 report from Gensler, a design and architecture firm, found that 53 percent of employees surveyed were disturbed by others when they needed to focus, and 42 percent resorted to makeshift solutions to block out distractions. Seventy-seven percent of employees in the Gensler study reported that they prefer quiet when they need to focus, and 69 percent were dissatisfied with the noise in their workspace.
Even though most workers reported being bothered by noise at work, 73 percent said they believed they could focus most effectively in an office setting, while just 16 percent believed they could focus most effectively at home.
“Our research points to a number of design solutions and strategic actions that can improve employee experience, enhance performance, and drive innovation and success,” the report states.
The report identified three steps in particular. Step 1 is for employers to provide effective “focus space.” The report explains that employers need to enable workers to perform effectively and that begins with supporting their focused work, which the report calls “a critical aspect of employee and team performance.”
Providing space conducive to focused thinking doesn’t have to take a back seat to space that encourages collaboration. Step 2, according to the Gensler report, is to embrace an office design that allows employees to collaborate without sacrificing focus. “Layering in alternative spaces and opportunities that support all work modes, from collaboration to learning and socializing, enables the connections that drive success in today’s knowledge economy,” the report states.
Step 3 is to drive innovation by giving workers choice in the workplace environment, according to the report. “Respondents with choice in when and where they work are higher performing, more satisfied, and see their companies as more innovative,” the report states.