Run it with less chaos · Every business
How Much Time Teams Lose to Miscommunication
Business leaders in one national survey estimated their teams lost 7.47 hours a week to poor communication, and the figure is worth understanding before using it, because a smaller team can measure its own number in a week.
At a glance
- In a Harris Poll survey conducted for Grammarly, U.S. business leaders estimated that their teams lose an average of 7.47 hours a week to poor communication, nearly a fifth of a 40-hour week, which the report valued at up to $12,506 per employee per year.
- A separate survey of 599 construction leaders found 14.1 hours a week going to searching for information, resolving conflicts and fixing mistakes, so the pattern shows up well outside the office.
- For an illustrative four-person team losing two hours a week each, a quarter of the survey figure, the cost is about $11,200 a year.
Where the number comes from
The 7.47-hour figure comes from The State of Business Communication, a 2022 report produced by The Harris Poll for Grammarly. The survey covered 1,252 people in the United States: 251 business leaders at director level or above and 1,001 knowledge workers, all working full time at organizations with 150 or more employees. The hours figure is the leaders' estimate for their own teams, and the report converts it into dollars using an average team salary, which produces about $12,506 per employee per year and as much as $1.2 trillion across U.S. businesses.
Three cautions are worth keeping in mind. The figure is an estimate by managers rather than a measured log of hours; the firms are larger than most owner-run service businesses, where fewer layers usually mean fewer handoffs; and the sponsor sells writing software, so the report has a reason to find a large number. Even so, it points the same way as research that measures time more directly, and the effects respondents described are concrete, with 45% of leaders reporting increased costs from poor communication, 39% reporting missed deadlines or longer timelines and 43% of knowledge workers reporting more stress.
| Study | Who was surveyed | Weekly time finding |
|---|---|---|
| Grammarly and The Harris Poll, 2022 | 251 leaders and 1,001 knowledge workers, U.S. firms with 150+ employees | 7.47 hours lost to poor communication (leaders' estimate) |
| FMI and PlanGrid, 2018 | 599 construction leaders, 500 in the U.S. | 14.1 hours on searching for data, conflict and rework |
| McKinsey Global Institute, 2012 | Interaction workers, MGI analysis | Nearly 20% of the workweek looking for internal information or the right colleague |
The calculation for a small team
The formula is short: people × hours lost per person per week × hourly cost × weeks per year. The hours that count are the ones spent re-asking, re-explaining, waiting for an answer or redoing work because something was misunderstood, such as a booking entered on the wrong day, a quote sent with the wrong price or a customer called twice with the same question.
| People on the team (Assumption) | 4 |
|---|---|
| Hours lost per person per week (Assumption (about a quarter of the 7.47-hour survey figure)) | 2 |
| Average hourly cost, including payroll costs (Assumption) | $28 |
| Weeks worked per year (Assumption) | 50 |
| Hours lost per year (Calculated (4 × 2 × 50)) | 400 |
| Annual cost (Calculated (400 × $28)) | $11,200 |
| Annual cost at the full survey figure of 7.47 hours (Calculated (4 × 7.47 × 50 × $28)) | $41,832 |
Illustrative example; replace every assumption with your own numbers.
The more cautious figure is the better one to plan around, because a four-person team that loses two hours each a week is easy to believe, and $11,200 a year is the figure to weigh against the cost of a shared job board, a weekly huddle and a few written templates.
How you compare
- The survey benchmark: 7.47 hours a week per person is a leaders' estimate at larger U.S. firms. A small team that stays well under it is in good shape, but few owners have measured it.
- The field benchmark: construction professionals reported 14.1 hours a week lost to searching, conflict and rework, which suggests teams that split time between an office and job sites tend to lose more.
- Your own baseline: for one week, have each person keep a tally of every time they redo, re-ask or re-explain something, with a rough number of minutes. Multiply the weekly total by your hourly cost and by 50, and you have your own figure.
The next step is to run that one-week tally, then pick the most common cause on the list and fix it before measuring again.
About this research: The headline figure comes from a Harris Poll survey sponsored by a software company and reflects leaders' estimates at organizations with 150 or more employees. The construction figures come from a survey by FMI and PlanGrid, and the McKinsey figure from a 2012 analysis of information work. The worked example is illustrative.
Sources
- Grammarly and The Harris Poll. The State of Business Communication. 2022. 251 business leaders and 1,001 knowledge workers at U.S. organizations with 150 or more employees.
- Thomas, E., Schott, P., Chao, L.-K., Bowman, J., Snyder, J. and Spare, N. Construction Disconnected: The High Cost of Poor Data and Miscommunication. FMI and PlanGrid, 2018. 599 construction leaders.
- Chui, M., Manyika, J., Bughin, J. et al. The Social Economy: Unlocking Value and Productivity Through Social Technologies. McKinsey Global Institute, July 2012.
Related reading: How Small Teams Keep Everyone Informed Without Endless Messages · Passing Job Notes Between the Office and Field Crews · A 15-Minute Weekly Huddle Agenda for Small Teams · What Doing Nothing Really Costs a Small Service Business
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