SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE# HR# WORKPLACE.

There comes a time in an office environment when doing less is more. Over-sharing may sure get you noticed, but are you getting noticed for the right reasons? Struggling to have relevance by being mouth may not be the only wrong thing we have been doing. Some cases can also be:

• Micromanaging
• Overly competitive.

Let’s see how we can do less and get more in our office environment.

Oversharing

I’m learning this too. Imagine someone giving out one great strategic idea. He gets a well-done clap. He comes and gives one mediocre idea. Seeing he hasn’t received applause, he will try to add another idea, which is likely another lame one. What will happen is the colleagues will avoid eye contact with him. Some will look down, feeling ashamed on his behalf. For this reason, it would have been better to concentrate on his one brilliant idea instead of watering down a brilliant idea by the other two. Good ideas are ok if you think it is best to share them.

Too Much competition

When staff look at each other as competitors than as a team, the office environment will be full of mistrust and fears because staff will start sabotaging one another hard work to climb the ladder. Too much competitiveness can become destructive.

Remove excess competition by:

·   Encouraging teamwork

·    Colleagues’ recognition,

·    Normalize brainstorming sessions for the entire team

·   Diversity and inclusion.

Too Much Micromanaging

The micromanaged staff have no sense of ownership of their work they don’t take initiative and accountability. As a result, they don’t grow. In the manager’s absence, there will be no productivity. As a result, there is no succession planning. When the manager resigns, the company will suffer losses because they prepared no one to take up from him, and there will be no one to train the incoming manager.

·  Delegating empowers the staff and motivates them to focus on higher-level tasks by learning new skills.

·  It also improves efficiency and productivity, ensuring a smooth transition in the manager’s absence.

Susan Chacha- HR, Mental health Champion.