Here at CX Today, we’ve come across an alarming trend. It has the ability to affect every single remote worker, damaging both employee experience and customer experience alike, proving catastrophic for businesses far and wide. Analysis paralysis. Initially, analysis paralysis was a phrase that began doing the rounds last summer, when it became clear in the UK (some three months after the whole ‘three-weeks to flatten the curve fib was still in place) and other countries that COVID-19 wasn’t going away and a couple of months before that dreaded winter lockdown.
But it’s reared its ugly head again. And despite a tsunami of businesses opting for permanent remote working models or hybrid – from Barclays and HSBC in the banking world to Google and Facebook in the tech industry – it remains a threat more than ever.
But what does it mean? According to Akixi, who helpfully issued a report on the subject, analysis paralysis affects customers as well as employees and is in a nutshell, the exhausting effects of being overwhelmed by too much of something.
The term first emerged when psychologist Barry Schwartz introduced the concept of the ‘Paradox of Choice’, which essentially means more options often lead to more confusion, indecision, and anxiety among consumers.
Akixi says in their report on the matter: “For years, the concept of analysis paralysis has been applied to consumer decision making, and the importance of being able to simplify the path to purchase. However, analysis paralysis isn’t just a problem facing modern consumers – it can also impact the workforce too.
“Just like your customers, employees in the modern workplace can often feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data they have access to, and the multitude of tools they have to leverage that information.”
There are an array of reasons why analysis paralysis is an issue, but particularly for remote and hybrid workers. It can result in lost productivity by stopping agents from performing well by forcing them to spend too much time over-thinking each step of their strategy. It can also create reduced creativity, with agents struggling to access the right information in a consumable manner meaning employees have a harder time thinking outside of the box. Finally, it also results in total lack of engagement as the more stressed employees are by issues of analysis paralysis, the more likely they are to lose interest in working.
Akixi adds: “The hybrid working model is considered by many to be the ultimate solution for the ‘return to work’. It provides companies with access to the perfect combination of in-office and remote working benefits. On the one hand, you have remote work, where employees can achieve better levels of productivity and improved work/life balance, while companies benefit from smaller overheads.”
Akixi offered tips in how to combat the issue, including using data for decision making, providing training and encouraging agility. But what I found interesting is the discovery of a trend that impacts both EX and CX equally. Analysis paralysis must be at the forefront of the minds of business leaders to retain those high employee satisfaction and CSAT figures. They’ve done well to survive the pandemic, but challenges in working models remain post-COVID.
