Want productivity in the workplace? Ask for less, not more.

“Focus on the task at hand” I hear myself telling my kids. “One thing at a time”, I demand, whilst simultaneously opening an email on my laptop, whatsapping the family group on my iPhone and series linking something new on Sky Atlantic. 

I post about issues going on within the workplace, mostly because as well as running a recruitment company, I also work as a coach – allowing me a privileged insight into the most prolific problems and opportunities any given business might have when it comes to maximising output performance from their staff.  

Whilst young in spirit, it’s fair to say that I’m not a Millennial (and definitely not a “Digital Native”), but I would say I’ve been a fairly early adopter to tech as it arises. There’s no argument that devices and tech has opened up the world in a way nothing else could, but it has also undoubtedly enabled (or should that be actively encouraged) us to become a nation of ‘multi-taskers', constantly frequenting different media and alternating between tasks simultaneously.

The question is, despite having the ability to multi task, Is this frenetic activity making us more productive at work, or less?

A University of California study into productivity in the workplace showed that a sample of heavy multi-taskers were in fact less efficient, as they were slower to reorient to the task in hand and more easily distracted by irrelevant stimuli. Sound familiar?

Another study I read, which teamed new data with an old piece of wisdom called Metcalfe’s Law suggested something all too familiar, saying that technology might actually be killing productivity. The new study, undertaken by a team at Bain & Company, analysed data on how people are spending their time at work. By combining this with productive output and total headcounts, they were able to see the impact of technology at work.

“Technology can have enormous benefits in the workplace,” said Michael Mankins, a partner at Bain & Company, in an article for the Harvard Business Review. “But it’s fair to ask whether we have reached the point of diminishing returns in some areas.”

Tech pioneer Robert Metcalfe predicted that the value of a network increases with the square of the number of users. However, his law has a downside as well. As the costs come down, the number of interactions rises exponentially. All of these interactions take time.

Consider the situation 30 years ago. If a manager was away from their desk, they’d get a note saying they missed a call – perhaps 1,000 a year. This then become a voicemail – perhaps 4,000 a year. Now, with the vast array of communication possibilities (email, Skype, instant messengers, phone) this has expanded to 30,000 communications.

I won’t be offended, but be honest, have you even managed to read this far into my post without checking another social media channel, email or flicking the TV over?

My point? There’s clearly a balance to strike here.

I wanted to post about devices and tech because as business leaders become more and more au fait with juggling tasks, they may also assume their workforce should be doing the same thing. I’d argue that the opposite is in fact true. If you want your employees to do their job to the very best of their ability, the most important thing you can do is allow them to focus wholly on the task at hand. Whilst it might be tempting to ask your employee (who is employed to do one thing but just ‘happens’ to be proficient at doing another) to undertake a second task, my advice is to resist and rethink. If you want each role doing as well as it can be, then your task as a leader is to place emphasis and importance on your employees ability to achieve that very thing.  

It’s hard not to praise the multi-tasker, especially if their work is allowing you to avoid adding an extra salary to the payroll, but I think that in this device and tech orientated world, there’s something to be said to take time to study those in the workplace who may not be flitting from task to task and are, instead, focusing entirely on the role you employed them to do.

After all, surely that’s why you hired them?

Interestingly, 60-70% of all downloaded apps are communication apps, and whilst WhatsApp groups can be great for speedy messages to front line teams, leaders should also be wary of key messages becoming lost before action -jumbled amongst the endless reaction and return commentary blurring the lines between work and social comms.

With reduced work forces and a greater emphasis on building customer relationships, business leaders need to be even clearer and succinct in their hierarchy of priorities and how they communicate them or risk paralysing the workforce in a never endless stream of ideas and musings, each leadership layer adding further complication.

How do you maximise use of tech in the workplace? Do you value cost saving over efficiency? Have you found tech enhances or distracts your employees? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Now if you don’t mind, I have a few apps demanding my attention…

Mark.