In my email today I had a newsletter from CIO magazine about the barriers to productivity many firms face from their enterprise software.  This newsletter refers to a study about software usability conducted by IFS, a mid-sized ERP vendor.  While the study was focused on the issues of usability, I found the answers to a number of the questions quite interesting.

I believe IFS was interested in understanding how much of a barrier the enterprise software most of us use everyday presents to becoming more productive.  And surely, one of the first questions must have set their eyes a-popping:  58% of the people surveyed said their enterprise software applications were difficult to extremely difficult to use.  Interestingly, almost 65% claimed usability was a top selection criteria.  So, clearly, software and its interface or how it describes and manages work needs to be improved.

However, the survey went on to ask some other questions about productivity that I found equally interesting.  First, the respondents were asked to identify factors which reduced the productivity of the organization as a whole.  This is the ranked list:

1. Too much work - 28%
2. Too many emails - 16%
3. Too many meetings - 18%
4. Lack of clear priorities - 13%
5. IT not optimized - 13%
6. Lack of easy access to information - 13%

Then, the respondents were asked to identify factors which reduced their own personal productivity.  Here's that list:

1. Unclear objectives - 21%
2. Too many meetings - 18%
3. IT systems don't match the way company works - 21%
4. Lack of resources - 32%
5. Geographic distances between offices - 13%

If we were to identify root causes for these factors, I think they'd look like this:

• Unclear objectives/priorities - poor management strategic direction and communication
• Too many meetings - poor management skills and time management
• Too much work/Lack of resources - downsizing and "doing more with less"
• IT not optimized/doesn't work the way the company works - inflexible technology supporting a business that is required to be flexible and change

So, in my simple analysis, many of the issues related to productivity have to do with clear management direction and communication, and the ability to communicate what's important.  Additionally, in today's market, flexibility and adaptability are just as important as established processes and operational excellence, but our technology, systems and processes aren't designed that way. 

So, while IFS thought they were answering productivity issues around enterprise software, I think they've also reinforced the issues that have been relevant for quite a while - most management teams don't set clear goals and strategies, and even if they do, they don't communicate them well, leaving people with unclear goals and priorities and inflexible processes and technologies.