5 Ways Teams Waste Time in Bitrix24 (and How to Fix Them)

Bitrix24 is designed to bring structure and efficiency to the way teams work. But like any tool, the results depend on how it’s used. Too often, we see companies put effort into setting up the system only to fall into habits that create more friction than flow. Tasks become reminders instead of commitments, updates get lost in chat threads, and processes run on guesswork rather than clarity.

A common mistake in Bitrix24 is treating tasks as if they were just digital sticky notes, quick reminders with little or no detail. Titles like “Call client” or “Check report” often get added without an assignee, deadline, or description. On the surface it feels fast, but in practice it slows teams down. Without clear ownership, tasks get ignored because everyone assumes “someone else is handling it.” Without a due date, there’s no urgency or accountability. And without context, team members have to spend extra time asking clarifying questions before they can even begin.

Research backs this up. The Project Management Institute has found that nearly 37% of project failures are caused by unclear goals and objectives, a problem that starts with vague task setup. In everyday terms, that means hours lost each week to back-and-forth conversations that could have been avoided.

The fix is simple but powerful: every task should answer three questions, Who is doing it? By when? And what does “done” look like? Assigning an owner ensures accountability, deadlines create momentum, and clear descriptions set expectations. For bigger deliverables, subtasks and checklists break work down into manageable steps. When tasks carry enough detail to stand on their own, they shift from being personal reminders to reliable commitments that drive progress forward. 

 
It’s natural for teams to default to quick chats when they want an update. A message in WhatsApp or a ping in Bitrix24 chat feels faster than opening a task. But over time, this habit creates a maze of scattered conversations. Updates get buried under memes, off-topic discussions, or entirely different projects. When someone new joins the team, they have no way of piecing together the history, and managers end up wasting hours asking the same questions: “Has this been done yet?”

This isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a measurable drain. McKinsey research shows that employees spend nearly 20% of their workweek searching for internal information or tracking down colleagues to help with tasks. When updates live in private chats, that number only grows. Critical details vanish in the noise, leading to duplicated work, missed deadlines, and repeated misunderstandings.

Bitrix24 solves this with task-specific comments. By keeping every update, decision, and attachment tied to the task itself, you create a single source of truth. No one has to dig through old threads or remember who said what three weeks ago, the history is right there, attached to the work. This doesn’t just save time; it builds accountability. When communication lives where the work happens, progress is easier to track, and projects move forward without unnecessary detours. 

 
Even with Bitrix24 in place, it’s common to see teams juggling multiple apps: Trello boards for planning, Slack for chat, Dropbox for file storage, Google Sheets for tracking, Mailchimp for email campaigns, and Canva or other tools for flowcharts and reporting. Each tool solves a specific problem, but when they’re used in parallel, the result is fragmentation. Information gets scattered, updates are inconsistent, and employees spend more time piecing together the big picture than actually moving work forward.

The cost of this tool overload is higher than it looks. A study by RingCentral found that workers waste up to an hour every day switching between different communication apps. Add project tools, file-sharing, and reporting platforms into the mix, and that lost time compounds quickly. On top of that, constant context switching doesn’t just eat into hours, it drains focus. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that multitasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%, because the brain takes time to reorient every time you switch.

Bitrix24 is designed to avoid exactly this problem by bringing conversations, tasks, files, campaigns, and reporting into a single platform. Instead of hopping between six different logins, everything you need is in one place. The less time people spend juggling tools, the more time they can spend on meaningful work. 

 
Having the right tools is only half the equation. Without a defined process behind them, tasks can quickly turn into busywork. We often see teams jump straight into creating tasks in Bitrix24 without first agreeing on how the work should flow, who reviews, what steps are mandatory, and how handovers should happen. The result is duplication, missed steps, and projects that feel like they’re always being reinvented from scratch.

 
This is where process matters. As one industry blog put it: “If all you’re doing is automating bad processes, then you’ll only end up making those bad processes run faster”. If there’s no structure to begin with, adding technology won’t solve the problem, it will just speed up the confusion.

 
The fix is to start by mapping out the flow of work. For example, what should happen when a new client signs on? Who needs to approve a project before it move forward? How should handovers between team members work? Once those steps are clear, Bitrix24 can bring them to life through templates, recurring tasks, and automation. This balance of structure and flexibility ensures that tasks aren’t just “to-dos” in the system, they’re connected to meaningful processes that guide the team toward consistent outcomes. 

 
One of the most frustrating time-wasters for teams is simply not knowing where things stand. Managers end up chasing verbal updates, relying on spreadsheets, or waiting for weekly meetings to understand progress. Team members, meanwhile, often work in silos without realizing how their part connects to the bigger picture. The result is surprises at the worst possible time, missed deadlines, hidden bottlenecks, and a scramble to fix problems after they’ve already snowballed.

 
The impact is bigger than lost time. According to the Project Management Institute, organizations waste 11.4% of their investment due to poor project performance, and lack of visibility is a key driver. Without clear oversight, it’s nearly impossible to spot issues early enough to adjust course. Teams fall into reactive mode instead of working proactively.

 
Bitrix24 addresses this by providing dashboards, workload planning, and Gantt charts that give both managers and team members a real-time view of progress. Visibility isn’t about micromanagement, it’s about clarity. When everyone can see the same information, accountability becomes shared, and the focus shifts from reporting problems to solving them. Instead of guessing or relying on gut feel, teams make decisions with confidence because they have the full picture in front of them. 

Project Management Institute (2017). Pulse of the Profession: Success Rates Rise. Retrieved from: https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2017
(Cited in Section 1: 37% of project failures caused by unclear goals and objectives)

McKinsey & Company (2012). The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies. Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-social-economy
(Cited in Section 2: Employees spend nearly 20% of the workweek searching for information)

RingCentral (2018). App Overload in the Workplace. Retrieved from: https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/workplace-app-overload/
(Cited in Section 3: Workers waste up to an hour every day switching between apps)

American Psychological Association (2001). Multitasking: Switching costs. Retrieved from: https://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask
(Cited in Section 3: Multitasking reduces productivity by up to 40%)

Equinix (2023). If all you’re doing is automating bad processes, then you’ll only end up making those bad processes run faster. Interconnections – The Equinix Blog. Retrieved from: https://blog.equinix.com/blog/2023/02/
(Cited in Section 4: Automating bad processes only makes them faster)

Project Management Institute (2020). Pulse of the Profession: Ahead of the Curve. Retrieved from: https://www.pmi.org/learning/thought-leadership/pulse/pulse-of-the-profession-2020
(Cited in Section 5: 11.4% of investment wasted due to poor project performance)