Smartsheet today released a new research report, The Great British Productivity Paradox, revealing a critical disconnect at the heart of UK business: while 80% of leaders say AI is already driving productivity gains, most are still measuring that productivity by hours worked and tasks completed. The result is that teams find work to fill their free hours, but never get to the strategic activities that drive revenue growth and move the business forward. For the average team, that translates to a full working day lost every week.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260416729249/en/
New research from Smartsheet shows that UK leaders are seeing productivity gains from AI, but many still use outdated metrics to measure productivity.
The paradox: Belief versus behaviour
UK leaders know the old ways of measuring productivity aren’t working, but most still use them. Nearly two-thirds (63%) say that tracking “hours worked” is no longer a useful measure of productivity, yet 26% still rely on it as an indicator of success. And while 60% acknowledge that counting “tasks completed” is an outdated way to measure performance, 25% still do. The public sector lags furthest behind, with nearly three-quarters (74%) still equating hours worked with productivity.
The root of the problem: 68% of leaders still believe that “being busy” and being productive are the same thing.
The good news: leaders are optimistic about AI. Eighty percent say it has already improved productivity, and 52% expect it to be the biggest driver of productivity gains over the next three to five years. But optimism alone doesn’t change behaviour. Businesses that adopt AI without changing how they measure success will only capture a fraction of its value. Worse, as AI takes on routine work, the pressure to look busy doesn’t go away. Employees simply find new low-value tasks to fill the time.
Why it matters: The true cost of “task masking” culture
The numbers add up fast. Teams lose 10 weeks of productive capacity every year to low-value work, roughly £12,000 per employee. For a £10 million business, that’s a possible £2 million in revenue quietly walking out the door.
But the financial cost is only part of the story. When the pressure to “look busy” outweighs the drive for results, employees stop focusing on what matters and start focusing on what’s visible. This is task masking—and it’s more common than most leaders realise. Six in ten leaders say they regularly see this in their organisations. It’s usually driven by a culture of fear or a lack of clear direction, and it doesn’t just waste time. It frustrates employees, erodes engagement and drives burnout.
The path forward: Implementing the right platform
The findings make one thing clear: this isn’t a people problem; it’s a systems and culture problem. But with the right AI-powered platform in place, it can be fixed.
Three steps to break the cycle
- Redefine what productivity looks like—with AI. Stop asking “how much is my team doing?” and start asking “what is my team’s work actually achieving?” Instead of relying on spreadsheets and status reports, AI-driven platforms show leaders what’s working, what isn’t, and where to focus in real-time. When teams are measured on business impact rather than hours worked, the right work rises to the top.
- Address the culture. Task masking is a signal that something is wrong with the culture, not the people. When employees spend their days on work that they know doesn’t matter, morale suffers and engagement drops. The fix starts with leaders: set clear expectations, remove the pressure to appear busy and give people the space to focus on work that drives real results. When that environment exists, task masking takes care of itself.
- Deploy an AI-powered work management platform to make the shift stick. Bringing in AI without changing how work is measured only gets you part of the way. The leaders who get the most out of AI are the ones embedding it into how their teams work every day—using it to cut routine tasks and surface the insights that help teams accomplish goals. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of UK leaders know the transition will be hard. That’s not a technology problem; it’s a change management problem. The right platform addresses both.
“AI can only deliver on its promise if the way organisations measure work keeps pace and right now, most aren’t,” said Sarkis Kalashian, vice president of product at Smartsheet. “The Smartsheet platform closes that gap. It gives leaders real-time visibility into what’s actually moving the business forward and cuts the admin work that keeps teams stuck on low-value tasks. When people, data and AI are connected around clear goals, leaders can stop guessing and start seeing exactly what’s driving results.”
Download the full report, The Great British Productivity Paradox: Helping Leaders Burst the ‘Busy Bubble’, here.
Methodology
The online survey was conducted among 500 UK business decision-makers (senior managers and above) involved in organisational productivity and performance at companies with more than 100 employees. Respondents spanned six major industry sectors: financial services, IT/technology, manufacturing, construction, pharma/healthcare, and the public sector.
About Smartsheet
Smartsheet unites people, data and AI to turn strategy into measurable enterprise impact. Smartsheet gives enterprises the speed, governance and trust to execute complex work across portfolios, operations and IT on a single, secure system. Smartsheet empowers millions of users to move faster, reduce risk and realise ROI with confidence. Visit www.smartsheet.com to learn more.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260416729249/en/
Media gallery
