How many times have you felt like you didn't accomplish hardly anything on your to-do list at the end of the workday? Workers around the globe are frustrated with spending too much time on administrative tasks and menial job responsibilities.

According to one report that surveyed over 1,000 Americans, almost half of the respondents said they spent up to 50 percent of their regular day scheduling calls and meetings. Furthermore, six out of 10 American employees said they spend up to half of their day at work participating in meetings and phone calls!

The Impact of Too Many Menial Tasks

According to Barnaby Lashbrook, CEO and founder of Time Etc., a virtual assistant software company, 'American employees are inundated with work. Not only are they responsible for tasks that are vital to business development, but they’re constantly scheduling meetings, taking calls and catching up emails and administrative tasks. This can result in lengthy to-do lists, filled with assignments that keep workers after hours, despite not always being related to the employee’s professional goals.'

When team members spend so much time on menial tasks, they have little time to focus on what actually matters and drives results. The same study showed that 90 percent of respondents spent less than 25 percent of their time on creative work, and it seems to get worse the more money one makes.

Those in an income bracket of $80,000 or higher said they rarely are able to complete their daily to-do list, a majority of those with an annual income between $40,000 and $80,000 said they regularly don't have time to finish their work, while those who make $40,000 or less are usually able to complete their tasks.

A professional’s experience level and increased responsibilities shouldn't equal less time to do important work. However, take a quick look at most C-level executives’ calendars and you'll see them swamped with meetings and task lists.

Read on to learn more about strategies for reducing menial job tasks and increasing productivity in every layer of your organisation.

Reduce Unnecessary Emails

Email isn't the only way to communicate with team members. It encourages lengthy paragraphs rather than simple one-sentence questions, statements or updates. Yet, The State of Work Report shows that American employees spend an average of 16 percent of their time at work on email.

Fifty-five percent of workers said email got in the way of getting important work done. Responding to emails is a menial chore that can be greatly reduced with instant messaging or group chat streams.

Seventy percent of respondents said instant messaging was useful for communication between team members in the workplace There's no shortage of technology to help your team communicate outside of email. Find what works for your team.

Tighten up Your Meeting Schedule

Most business professionals around the world resonate with the problem of having too many meetings. Meetings create more work and take up valuable time to get that work done.

Research even shows that this trend has only gotten worse in last 50 years. The average executive spends 23 hours a week in meetings compared to 10 hours per week in the 1960s.

Many meetings are a waste of time and ruin productivity. Look at your calendar and analyse the frequency, duration and purpose of a week’s worth of meetings. Are they all necessary? Do they have a clear agenda? Are only the team members who need to be there invited? Do you have a clear call to action at the end for each person?

Stop spending your day scheduling calls and participating in unproductive meetings. Some meetings are essential, but limit them with daily communication, starting and ending on time, and a thoughtful, intentional meeting goal.

Automate Reports

Do some of your team members spend valuable time in data processing and generating performance reports? It doesn't have to be done manually now that technology is available to generate many reports automatically.

For example, Samewave is a social performance management tool with a stream reporting feature that allows team members to view a rundown of individual and team performance based on accomplishing goals set within the application.  

Reports can be delivered to team members at the frequency of your choice. This helps employees stay on top of any project, increasing productivity and engagement throughout the organisation.

Provide Ample Resource Training

You can have all the best resources at your disposal to reduce menial labor, but if you provide little training for your employees they won't be very effective. When new employees start, make sure their orientation and training includes education about your email practices and meeting schedules.

If you use technology to help schedule meetings such as Calendly, artificial intelligence or chat tools, make sure they are signed up and know how to use it properly. You want team members to have the same practices across the organisation to maximise productivity and eliminate as many menial tasks as possible.

Reduce Menial Labor With Technology

Samewave is social performance management software that helps organisations reduce menial tasks such as email overload with group chat streams and direct messaging, helping eliminate pointless meetings with frequent communication and accountability towards goals. Our software helps teams effectively collaborate and communicate about projects, targets and tasks in a transparent space.

Samewave also decreases the need for conventional, lengthy workplace meetings and tracks meeting minutes, giving individual team members the ability to observe progress in real-time.

If you are interested in reducing menial work tasks and freeing your employees to spend more time on creative work that produces results, download Samewave for free. You can introduce it to your teams to begin increasing team productivity today.