Workers forced to resend information shared previously almost twice a week

New research released by Sinequa, a provider of Intelligent Enterprise Search, reveals that while communication applications such as Microsoft Teams are growing in popularity, they also present productivity pitfalls for employees who are required to search across an increasing number of platforms. The research follows the launch of the Sinequa for Teams integration, which alleviates these pitfalls so that employees can find all relevant information regardless of where it’s stored and to work more productively as a result. 

Microsoft Teams’ use as a communication application in the workplace has seen rapid growth over the last year and a half, nearly doubling between April 2020 and April 2021 and now standing at over 250 million users. Sinequa’s research found three quarters of Teams users like that the application offers a quick and easy way to collaborate with colleagues. While this was the benefit cited most often, others included the user-friendliness of the platform (54%), the ability to integrate with other applications (42%), and the number of useful features available (36%).* 

However, as workplaces use more applications, finding information becomes harder, with employees needing to search in more places to find what they are looking for. Sinequa’s research found that the most cited drawback of communication applications at work is difficulty finding information across this increasingly-scattered landscape. Content – from links and documents to other assets – can be anywhere and is hard to track down, resulting in 96% of employees resending information they already provided. On average, employees experience a request to resend information every three working days. 

Sinequa for Teams is the latest integration that enables users of Microsoft Teams to search within and beyond Microsoft Teams using Sinequa’s intelligent search capabilities. Natural language processing makes sense of unstructured as well as structured data in and outside the Teams application to find relevant information. Users quickly find the information they need – wherever it lives - with Sinequa for Teams, reducing the need to resend information and making employees more productive. 

Jeff Evernham, Vice President, Product Strategy said “Our research has found that, while communication applications are invaluable tools for the hybrid workplace – enabling quick and easy collaboration between colleagues – there are also challenges developing as employees are expected to use more and more of these applications and tools at work. 

“There is a growing risk that productivity is hindered rather than helped by application proliferation and the resulting information sprawl. Looking across multiple applications with different search capabilities wastes employee’s time and their productivity suffers. The best organizations are mindful of the employee experience as a whole, and integrate solutions for a more comprehensive, cohesive, and frictionless digital workplace. 

“Sinequa addresses the problem of scattered information by offering one place where employees can get everything they need, without having to leave Teams. With this new integration, employees have what they need right at their fingertips when they need it, so they can be more effective and efficient – whether in the office or remote.”