Soccer Lessons

 It is obvious that good soccer coaches or mangers earn the respect of their players and create a ‘playing system’ and an environment (or culture) in which players want to perform for their colleagues, club and coach.

Poor managers do exactly the opposite of these things.  They lack the respect of players (known as ‘losing the dressing room’) and fail to creature that supportive culture.

Players in an unsupportive culture have more (and longer-lasting) injuries and (intentionally or not) tend to lose form and fail to  be competitive.

So, take an interest.  Watch how managers/coaches react to wins or defeats, how they respond to questions or comments by TV pundits, how they handle out-of-form players and so on.  Then note the upturn or downturn in performance or results - and try to work out what works with a soccer team.  

Think about how as shifts to less management and more coaching might help you crest a supportive environment and culture.

You should then be able to work out what might work with your own work teams, leading to higher performance snd productivity.

Lessons from Soccer

 I  am a soccer fan.  I watch it (mainly on TV) regularly and have my favourite teams.  I also take an interest in football management - especially in the ‘management merry-go-round’ where managers are sacked by one club and then employed by another.  

Over the last 20 or 30 years in the UK soccer world, there has been a steady but consistent move from soccer management to soccer coaching.  British managers, especially in the  Premier League (the top tier of English soccer) have been replaced by European caches.

It is obvious that good soccer coaches or mangers earn the respect of their players and create a ‘playing system’ and an environment (or culture) in which players want to perform for their colleagues, club and coach.

Poor managers do exactly the opposite.  They lack the respect of players (known as ‘losing the dressing room’) and fail to create that supportive culture.

Players in an unsupportive culture have more (and longer-lasting) injuries and (intentionally or not) tend to lose form and fail to  be competitive.

So, take an interest.  Watch how managers/coaches react to wins or defeats, how they respond to questions or comments by TV pundits, how they handle out-of-form players and so on.  Then note the upturn or downturn in performance or results - and try to work out what works with a soccer team.  

Think about how a shift to less management and more coaching might help you crest a supportive environment and culture in your organisation.

You should then be able to work out what might work with your work team, leading to higher performance snd productivity.

Its the Service Sector, Stupid!

Productivity growth has been falling or stagnating for the last couple of decades.

Everyone seems surprised.  (Well pundits, journalists and politicians do!)

I'm not!

The growth referred to above was mostly in the manufacturing sector - where productivity growth is relatively easy to accomplish ... especially with the help of new technologies.

But most developed nations over the last few decades have moved from manufacturing to service industries.  It is much harder to make significant gains in productivity in the service sector and so productivty growth has declined.

Logical - not surprising.

Will AI (as a technology with obvious applications and implications for the service sector) give us the productivity boost we seek?

It might .... but whether we can cope with those gains is questionable.

Will the wealth gains be shared amongst the already rich - leaving the rest of us with no jobs, no wealth and no hope.  I'm not sure .... but the fact that the application of AI is largely in the hands of the already super-rich, doesn't fill me with confidence.

 

The British Prtoductivity Malaise

Though this post refers specifically to the UK, there are lessons for most nations … so don’t turn the page… read on!

UK productivity stagnated some times ago and has been bouncing along the bottom of most nationality comparison charts for too long.

Serval people far more important than me have tried to explain the reasons behind this state of affairs…. But from what I’ve read, these people know little about productivity.

Liz Truss, for example, was very briefly the UK Prime Minister and she talked about UK workers, and especially those in the north, having to ‘pull their weight’ and ‘graft more’.  The only thing she got right here was the recognition that productivity in the North of the country is significantly lower than in the South.

Did she stop to think why this might be?  It doesn’t seem like it.  She just assumed that since productivity is measured in terms of GDP per worker or per hour worked, it must be underperforming workers that are responsible for the North-South divide. 

(Though I have named Liz Truss (because if the leader of the government does not understand the issues, why should anyone else) this view is shared by many others amongst the ‘great and the good’, the policymakers and strategists.

However, the ‘gap’ or divide is a result of UK exports depending largely on financial services- and financial services firms being largely based in the South of the country.  This is a structural, geopolitical issue and drastically skews the productivity figures in favour of the South.

Now,I am not suggesting that we should not concentrate on improving productivity in the North but to start from a position of blame and recrimination does no good at all.

We need to ensure the North receives the same level of investment as the South, that Norther workers have the same training and development opportunities and that the northern infrastructrure is developed.  (We have in the government a ‘levelling up’ secretary of state … what are they doing?)

Poor productivity is rarely a symptom of, or the result of, poor work rates; it is almost always the result of under-investment, poor infrastructure and poor systems.

If you understand the problem ,you have some chance of solving it.  Those politicians who take the easy line (workers need to graft more) are simply demonstrating that they either do not understand the problem or find it too difficult to solve, so make sure they pass the blame (and the buck)

Your future as a manager

 Technology has changed the role of a manager - by creating a situation where many managers do their own typing, their own diary management, their own meeting arrangements and so on - tasks which were once most often undertaken by a secretary or P.A.

Now we have the much-vaunted rise of AI, which might take over a number of the ‘real management’ tasks  - organising, controlling, decision-making and so on.

So, whither managers - or should that be wither managers.  What will be your role as a manager in the future?  I can’t say I know, but I suspect there will be meaningful changes.  Are you prepared?

Do As You Would Be Done BY

Holding employees accountable for their behaviour and their work outcomes is important.  But it needs to exist in a supportive and trusting culture so that those employees are performing whilst being, and feeling, supported.  They need to be engaged with the organisation and its mission and feel that, when appropriate, their voice is heard.

If he/she expects employees to conduct themselves in a particular way, the manager must ensure their own conduct exemplifies such an approach and that they serve as a role model.

Any ‘rules’ must be simple and clear.  They should be explained in a format that allows feedback, part of an honest dialogue between manager and employees.

Your employees are much more likely to respect and trust you when you demonstrate respect for, and trust in, them.  Trust and respect are mutual phenomena.

This largely equates to a culture of ‘do as you would be done by’.

If carried out in a clear and consistent manner, you and your employees blend into a mutually respectful and engaged team.

The result is inevitably higher performance and productivity.

Evaluate Potential Tools

How many organisations that adopt one of these tools have done so on the basis of a rigorous, systematic evaluation or assessment?  How do they know they have selected an appropriate tool?

Firstly, of course, you should be clear about the problem you are trying to solve or the opportunity you are trying to seize.  You should retain a degree of flexibility  by thinking about your business as it is changing - and whether a particular model or tool fits you now snd forward into the future.

You should consider whether a proposed model or tool (especially a software tool) will integrate with your existing systems and toolset and whether the user interface will provide problems because of a clash with existing tools.

Think about how much help (and the cost of that help) will be needed to apply a model or tool - and whether some sort of trial is available.

Of course, you have to assess likely outcomes - but think about failure as well as success.  What is the worst case scenario of a failed project?  What are the various risks?

If you understand these factors, you can make a much more informed judgment of which model or tool to adopt and you are much more likely to be successful in that adoption.

Engage Your Employees

There is increasing evidence that high performance and productivity comes from workers who are engaged with the organisation …. aware of, and preferably sharing, its value set; aware of, and preferably invested in, its longer-term mission.

Engaged individuals are much more likely to contribute to formal and informal innovation processes, much more likely to be members of strong teams, much more likely to be error free.

This means that executives and managers must exhibit leadership practises that increase and support employee engagement - ensuring that employees themselves exhibit qualities of optimism, resilience, self-development, and flexibility.

Importantly, research is emerging which suggests that these effects are maintained over time - as long as employees continue to ne engaged, they continue to perform well.

You might think that this sounds trite and obvious ….but, if so, presumably you are doing all you can to increase and maintain employee engagement.  If not,, you have an under-performing team or organisation.

Plan Your Planning

We all know that to.be successful in our career, we have to plan ahead, in our job, we have to plan ahead' in our life, we have to plan ahead.

But, do you do it?

Although we know we shoulf, we often forget to do it

When should we do it?

Forgetting about work-life balance, the weekend is a good time.

At weekend, we should be able to reflect on the past week ....

What  did we achieve?

What goals did we meet?

What goals did we not meet?

Why not?

What circumstances have changed?

What goals need to be adjusted?

We should also know our availability for the coming week?

So, we can plan.

In fact we can forget the above comment about work-life balance.  When planning we can take account of work-life balance, planning in domestic or family matters.

So, schedule time for planning past reflection and future planning.   

Plan to plan.  It makes sense. It should help work-life balance.  It should make you more productive.

Productivity is all?

We have all seen examples of business leaders focusing exclusively on productivity growth - and failing to develop the business.

Elon Musk - and his (‘hard-nosed’) approach to managing Twitter (now ‘X’) is just one example.

Does this mean that a very strong focus on productivity is wrong?

As often is the case, the answer is ’No…. BUT ….)

A completely ‘hard-edged’ focus on the bottom line, on costs, can be dangerous.

There arere too many ‘soft’ factors involved in productivity - factors such as skill levels, culture, motivation, creativity.   These generally take a longer time to get right. But leaders who forget to address these softer factors - concentrating only on hard and structural factors - will fail to achieve peak performance.

So, take a full-throttle approach to productivity improvement in your organisation but make sure you include the longer-term, softer factors to build the ’top line’ of the productivity ratio, whilst taking your hard-nosed look at the bottom line.  

Reducing costs can be counter-productive if you destroy, of fail to add, value!

Should you take a holiday?

The answer to the question is obvious.

Yes, you should.

We all need a break from work occasionally to rid ourselves of accumulated stress, to refresh ourselves.  

But I've learned that there are things you can do to help maintain productivity whilst still having x complete break.

Firstly - prepare for the vacation.

One of the worst things about a vacation is returning to several dozen (or even several hundred) unanswered emails.  So make sure everyone in the office who might email you while you are away knows you will be away and incommunicado - you will NOT be answering work-related emails.

Also, tie up all the loose ends you can that could result in emails or other forms of message.

Delegate tasks to member of your team - making sure that they have the knowledge they need to accept the responsibility - and making sure that others working on the same projects or in the same area know who has the responsibility.

If you have cyclical meetings or tasks due during the vacation period, try to automate and schedule key parts of those tasks to keep things moving in your absence - it may, for example, be possible to prepare reports for meetings (as drafts which your team members van update if necessary)

Secondly, prepare for your return - plan as far as possible, your first day back ... at least to cover key priories or key projects.  Don't over plan - you have to be flexible enough to react to things that might have happened while you are away.

Thirdly, build in a buffer.  If you can give yourself a day off after your return before you start work.  This allows ytou to think, reflect and clear your ghad, getting back into 'work mode'.

Fourthly, try to include some tasks or meetings on your first day back that will interest you or you will enjoy.

If you follow this simple approach, your return to work will be easier and you will be more productive.

 

Who Are You?

Your personal productivity depends on how well you know yourself.

What interests you?

What are you good at?  

What don't you like doing?

In the past, when have you performed well - and what were the circumstances?

Each of us is different.  We have different interests, different motivations, different abilities, different skills.  

This means we approach work tasks differently.

If we understand ourselves, we can more effectively plan our approach to new tasks to ensure we deal with them effectively and efficiently.  We should also realise where we lack the appropriate knowledge or skills and make sure we get help from others with that knowledge or those skills.  We should also be able to make reasonable and realistic assessments of timescales required. 

Understanding yourself actually creates a more effective, more productive you.  A truly virtuous circle.

 

Its not the medium - or even the message

Most of us have done some form of study that involves a section on improving communications.

We learn about the importance of making any message appropriate to the target audience - using the right language, using appropriate images, and so on.

We also learn about choosing the medium for the message according to factors such as the need for speed, the need for feedback loops, etc.

Yes, it is neither of these that is the main factor in determining the effectiveness of communication.

What matters most is the desire to communicate. Does the sender of the message really want to communicate - clearly  - to achieve his/her desired results…. or is the communication process a ‘box-ticking’ exercise. 

Where there’s a will, there’s communication.

Where there isn’t, there is much more likely to be confusion and misunderstanding. 

 

Is technology helping you?

Just imagine you were the CEO of Walmart several years ago.  

You can see that Amazon is starting to gain a foothold in markets beyond the books and music where it started.

You know you have to have some kind of response, some preparation for when Amazon (or someone like Amazon) starts to intrude on your core markets.

You also know that any significant excursion into online sales is going to be expensive.

Yet you can’t abandon your successful, physical stores - or fail to maintain your investment in improving them…. they are not exempt from fierce competition.

This means that the advance of technology has resulted in you having to make two sets of investment, rather than one, to maintain or grow your market share.

The  same dilemma hit newspapers who had to start experimenting with digital print and online sales alongside their traditional distribution methods.

A few companies in each of these different sectors have been successful, but there is a long tail of companies who have experienced declining sales and the threat of extinction.

Why am I talking about this in a productivity blog?

Because this explains some of the slowdown in productivity over the last decade.

This is probably a temporary phenomenon.  When the winners emerge and the losers go to the wall, overall productivity should rise.

The problem, then, is there might be one company to rule them all (Amazon?) with the attendant problems of monopoly. 

In the meantime, you have to assess where your company sits, how this applies to your marker and what options are available to make you a winner.  

Good luck!

Keeping It Simple

Sometimes keeping things simple yields the best results. This is particularly true for start-ups and small businesses.

Don’t get sucked into complex (and expensive) systems of control or ‘improvement’.

Stick to the basics.

Set realistic goals (consistent with your declared mission and vision). If the goals are long-term, set intermediate targets.

Communicate those goals/targets  throughout the organisation (especially to those who can influence them).

Make sure staff have the skills and support needed to realise those goals.

Measure progress towards those goals.

Review the measures regularly and take corrective action where they indicate a lack of expected progress.

Reward those who excel in their work and accelerate progress towards goals.

Ensure the goals stay relevant as conditions or circumstances change.

Do We Have To Make A Choice?

 Climate-change activists often insist theirs is the right way.  They insist that everything we do (or more often not do) must help ‘save the planet', rather than make us richer or more secure. Yet, in all fields of human activity, the two can co-exist, even help each other…. If we look at green policies and practices through a long-range telescope, looking at the bigger picture and taking a long-term view.  (I know we are facing a shortish-term crisis …..but bear with me.)

Take agriculture.  If we reduce, or preferably stop, the use of pesticides and fertilisers, and use ‘old-fashioned’ approaches to improving and protecting the soil, we can save money, reduce the damage to the planet and improve yields (and therefore productivity).

If in industry, we stop trying to clean up the mess produced by manufacturing processes, and instead redesign them to avoid producing that mess in the first place, again we can reduce our costs, reduce the damage to the planet and,  in the longer -term, improve yields.

We have to start thinking strategically and holistically, instead of looking for short-term measures and failing to think through linkages and unintended consequences of these short-term measures (which is, by and large, what we do now).  We could transform.our stuttering attempts at climate-damage limitation into a climate-improving strategy which at the same time improves productivity across a range of industrial sectors. 

Does Time Matter?

 Of course it does!

However, concentrating on squeeing every last drop of productive output from each day and multi-tasking to get more done can lead to burnout, to stress and anxiety and to a drop in performance.

If this sounds like your existence, then think about what it represents.  

Time is managing you, rather than you managing your time.

Almost certainly, you and/or your loved ones, will be complaining about your poor work-life balance.

You have to regain control over your schedule - by better prioritisation, better delegation, better planning, making sure you have fewer distractions, taking proper breaks - all the usual time management practices.

Time does matter.  So, control it.  Make control of your own schedule your very own superpower, rather than your arch-enemy.  Your family will thank you for it - and you will feel much better for it. Almost certainly, you will also be more productive - so your organisation will reap the benefit! 

A Lesson in Communication

Doug Conant was the CEO of Campbell Soups in 2001 when the company’s business was at  rock bottom due to several organisational issues including a toxic culture. Among the many leadership strategies, Doug adopted, one of them was to engage with each staff member and personally, connect with them.

He did something that was unheard of – in his 10 years at the helm, he wrote 20 notes a day, resulting in more than 30,000 notes to thank employees for their contribution to the company. On his visits to offices, he would find his notes stapled to the softboards, bulletin boards and sharing pride of place on their desks. 

Not surprisingly,  as a result in 2009 Campbell Soups outperformed its competitors.

None of this required new technology, new techniques or new advisors.

It simply required new communication.  We know that, above all, effective communication requires a will, a desire to communicate.  Conant’s desire to communicate changed the culture of the organisation - and transformed its performance. 

A Need for Balance

 I have talked previously about the need to balance the pursuit of efficiency with a need for resilience - we need to be able to cope with supply chain, labour or other problems.

We have also talked previously about the need to balance a concentration on throughput with the need to maintain, or improve, quality.  No use making more widgets if we can’t sell them or they are going to annoy our customers.

Another balance we’ve mentioned is the balance between concentrating on throughput or the longer-term well-being of our workforce.  A workforce that gets burned out becomes inefficient.

Now I’m adding another balance to the list -not one we’ve explicitly mentioned but one we’ve hinted at.  This is the balance between continually refining and improving what we do with the need to do other things - to innovate In both products and processes. 

So, you can see why being a senior executive or manager is a difficult task.  Maintaining a watch on all these factors - and maintaining the balance - can be tricky.

But another way of looking at it is to use a common factor - value.  We ask how any decision we are about to make will affect value for the customer.

This is the true essence of productivity - which is, remember, the ratio of output to input - or value created per dollar employed in the business.  Productivity - if measured properly - helps maintain the various balances, using efficiencies only where they add value for the customer … the one true balance you have to msintain.

How Good Are They?

 Over the last couple of decades (before the pandemic) lots of middle income countries and middle-performing companies were integrated into global supply chains. Advanced nations and advanced companies had no choice as they needed new sources of materials, parts and skills.

These new supply chain partners soon learned what was expected of them and with a fair bit of prompting and a fair bit of help and support, they upped their game and moved from the middle ranks to the top ranks.  

This is how countries like China and Mexico rose up the ranks of manufacturing industry countries.

It helped that the companies involved could see the ‘art of the possible’ from their new partners. 

(It also helped that a number of countries abandoned manufacturing ingthe pursuit of a services-based economy.)

It also led to internal competitors of these companies seeing  the gains being made and striving to emulate this enhanced performance - raising the levels of performance of whole industrial sectors in these previously middle income countries.

This was, in effect, a very unstructured form of benchmarking.  

Look what they are doing.

Wow, it looks good!

It seems to her working.

Couldn’t we try try it as well? 

It is always easier to emulate something you can see working, rather than some theoretical model or vision.

This is why sector-based benchmarking can work for any country.

Measure the performance of a range of organisations in a sector across a range of factors.

Identify the ‘good’ and the ‘best’ performers on each factor.

Share the lessons of good performance.

Set in train programmes to help the ’tail’ of companies to emulate the performance of the few at the head.

Re-measure performance and identify gains. 

Simple - in theory.  And remember, you are showing companies what their peers are doing and achieving. , not holding ups some ideal model.  

Lobby your political or industrial representatives to set up sector benchmarking programs.