Asana examines the digital challenges that Australian workers and businesses face in navigating the next era of work
As the world gets to grips with AI, an Asana report reveals that Australian workers see the technology as innovative, yet 95% see room for improvement
36% of Australian workers say that Australia is the most innovative country in the world yet, according to a report by Asana, its businesses are facing crucial crossroads within the workplace.
Whilst the global business landscape is rapidly transforming, 95% of Australian workers say via the report their organisation’s technology and tools are in need of innovation.
Drawing on insights from a survey of more than 2,000 Australian workers, Asana examines the challenges that Australian workers and businesses face in navigating the next era of work in The State of Work Innovation: Australia.
Whilst there is plenty of excitement concerning disruptive technologies like AI, there are also concerns – also shared with the rest of the world – that enterprises are not yet able to harness the technology to its full potential.
Challenges over tapping into AI potential
Despite such optimism about how AI can be leveraged within an enterprise environment, Asana’s report highlights a lack of alignment between executives and individual contributors. As a result, this is impacting effective AI implementation and slowing down innovation.
The research, which was conducted by Asana’s Work Innovation Lab, finds that today’s workers struggle with high workload, lack of clarity and digital exhaustion.
One of the top challenges identified by the report is a lack of clarity and collaboration, with respondents citing a high number of unproductive meetings and a lack of clear purpose. Over half (52%) of workers feel their workload is unmanageable to the point of needing to take a day off at least once a month. Likewise, 55% of workers believe their organisation’s leaders do not currently do enough to mitigate digital exhaustion, also known as digital burnout.
These findings differ when Asana spoke with executives versus individual contributors, as evidenced in the below infographic.
Source: Asana
Whilst 70% of executives state their organisation has an AI-specific budget for professional development, only 19% of individual contributors are aware of this. The disparity also exists with AI-specific budgets and AI policies, with executives often being more aware than their workforce that these measures are in place.
According to Asana, many workers are experiencing friction due to fragmented technology stacks. As a result, a significant number of worker respondents cite preferring uniformity in collaboration technologies to make workloads more efficient.
“Professionals across Australia struggle with increasing workloads and a lack of effective tools and processes to thrive in an environment where hybrid and asynchronous work is the gold standard. At the same time, business leaders are challenged to improve productivity while continuing to innovate with transformative technologies like AI,” says Jo Gaines, General Manager (APAC) at Asana.
Jo Gaines, General Manager (APAC) at Asana
“Organisations don’t need more tools – they need the right tools that are the connective glue which helps teams get clarity around priorities, show impact against company goals, and scale AI to improve business outcomes.”
The future of AI is optimistic
Despite ongoing workplace challenges as businesses strive to strategize with AI, there is a vast increase in enterprise optimism when it comes to implementing the technology.
Within Australia, Asana finds that those surveyed view AI as holding great potential to enhance work. In fact, Australian executives are more excited about AI than their counterparts in the United States.
The report finds that 63% of Australian leaders say they are enthusiastic about generative AI (Gen AI) and its potential within day-to-day work operations. Additionally, 66% agree it will have a positive impact at work.
Source: Asana
However, the report cautions that business leaders must ensure that AI use guidelines and policies are clearly communicated across organisations to make sure workers are aware of them.
“It’s more critical than ever that leaders define clear guidelines around how it can – and should – be used in the workplace,” Jo comments. “With so many Australian workers struggling with work overload and digital exhaustion, there is infinite potential to use AI to maximise resources, increase efficiency, and improve cross-functional collaboration.”
The report adds: “Australian businesses have historically been at the forefront of innovation. As we look to 2024 and beyond, it’s clear that navigating these challenges requires more than incremental changes; it demands a bold reimagining of work practices.”
