Measurement of Time Spent Communicating

Abstract

The relative amount of time people spend in workday activities was estimated by both an observational and questionnaire method. Results from professional, technical, administrative and clerical people in a communications research and development laboratory show that 50%–80% of the workday is spent in communicating, two-thirds of that in talking. People tend to underestimate time spent talking and overestimate time spent reading and writing. Telephone and equipment use is estimated correctly on the average. People in one-man offices and laboratories spend more time talking than people in multi-man offices, but this result is confounded with supervisory level.