The top 3 workplace distractions & how to manage them

1. Colleagues (20.3%) 

Coming in first place is the very people that make up your organisation. Clarendon London attributed this to two reasons: gossip and hot-desking.

Generally speaking, the more gossip in the office then the higher the productivity and lower the staff morale. But you can’t fight against something that will always be there. Jim Whitehurst, CEO of Red Hat, told Business Insider last year why it’s a bad thing: “Rule of thumb when it comes to office gossip: if you have more truth telling at the water cooler than in meetings, you've got a problem.”

He said leaders should do this to overcome the problem: “You want to get to a place where people feel safe to share their thoughts, feelings and opinions about a situation, beyond the water cooler.