The productivity principle

In 2012, blogger and programmer Maneesh Sethi placed an ad on Craigslist for somebody to administer a swift slap every time he logged onto Facebook during work hours. He hired Kara for $8 an hour to sit next to him and keep him in line. Sethi estimated his average productivity at around 40 percent, but claimed that when Kara sat next to him issuing clouts, his productivity 'skyrocketed to 98 percent'.

Drastic measures perhaps, a gimmick for sure, but the point is well made - most of us are not as productive as we could be, and we need help. Whether that help is a slap-happy assistant, a nifty time-management app or a working environment with progressive attitudes on promoting productivity, it ultimately comes down to a partnership between individual responsibility and workplace environment.

Slice it how you like it, we all waste time at work, and it's expensive. According to business liability insurance firm BOLT, employees who spend time on 'non-work tasks' cost their employers nearly $134 billion a year. The biggest source of time-wasting at work? Browsing the web, communicating on social networks, and watching sport. That's a lot of productivity down the (You) tube...

I asked a group of professionals about their productivity concerns, and put these to productivity strategist and coach Cathy Sexton.

Ruby is an administrator in a large medical services company. She believes employees in her workplace would be more productive if the rewards for increased productivity were greater. Does she have a point?

Cathy Sexton (CS): Productivity is the responsibility of both the employee and the company. The individual needs to be as self-motivated as possible, and want to be the best they can be, accomplishing what they can in the most effective way they can. But equally, it's the company's responsibility to be actively involved from the top down. Just as in a family dynamic, the parents - the 'upper management' - need to be the example. Of course, companies must have the relevant technology, tools and training in place to make productivity improvement as easily accessible as possible for their staff.

Programmer Joe believes that he would be more productive if management were better at the 'soft skills' that motivate people to buy into the concept of productivity rather than seeing it as the boss wanting to get more out of staff without paying more. Good point?

CS: The approach to productivity must be the culture of the whole company, not just a demand from management. It's critical that management understands each employee's 'natural productivity style' too - this allows the employee to work naturally and accomplish more with less stress. Without this, expectation and demands can add stress and frustration to staff, which has a negative impact on productivity levels.

Another issue is social media usage in the workplace - how much is too much, should it be encouraged, discouraged, even forbidden?

CS: This really depends on how or if social media forms part of the company's overall marketing plan. If social media is part of the plan, then this needs to be delegated to specific individuals to handle. My view is that when it comes to staff not involved in using marketing strategies, the use of social media for their personal needs should be limited to breaks and personal time, not company time.

What about the problem of e-mail arriving in a seemingly endless, urgent stream on our desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones? When you log on in the morning to find 200 e-mails waiting for you, with lots of people wanting immediate responses, it can be a pretty dispiriting start to the day. How can we manage this better?

CS: These days, most people are overwhelmed with too much e-mail. By following a few simple practices, you can get a handle on your e-mail.

* Turn off notifications: being interrupted by the e-mail icon popping up only adds to your stress. It takes 30 to 40 percent of our brain power to switch from one mental task to another. * Schedule e-mail time: schedule three or four times a day to handle e-mail. The key here is to 'handle' it. We tend to look at an e-mail and mentally plan to deal with it later, which in effect means we look at the same e-mail multiple times before we actually do anything about it. By scheduling time, it means that when we look at it, we can deal with it there and then. * Set e-mail rules: it's key to filter non-urgent e-mails into folders for review later rather than keeping them in the Inbox. Your Inbox should not be a holding place or filing area - items in your Inbox should only be those needing action.

We all talk about and strive for a healthy work/life balance, but as one person I spoke to pointed out, 'recognition' in the workplace often only goes to those who work late nights and weekends. Doesn't this detract from any talk of balance from execs and people at ordinary management level?

CS: Work/life balance is extremely important. On the one hand, if you're effective and efficient with your time, you shouldn't have to work those extra hours regularly. On the other hand, we teach what we allow. If we always work late, come in early, work weekends, etc., then it becomes a habit and as such, expected.

What interventions not related to motivation can boost productivity? For instance, cramming people into smaller spaces raises noise levels, makes it difficult to concentrate. So what factors do you need to consider to create a working environment that fosters productivity?

CS: This comes back to our natural productivity style. When we understand what our styles are, it's easier to make sure we have the optimum environment for our particular style. The fact is, everyone works, thinks and handles things differently, and the truer we are to our style, the more productive we can be.

First published in the May 2014 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.