No Secret to Improved Productivity

There are thousands of articles, book - even blog posts - promising you the Top 5 (or 6 or 21) secrets to productivity.

However, I have disappointing news..  There is no one secret, no magic bullet, no productivity panacea.

Improving productivity takes real commitment - from the leaders of the organisation and infused throughout the organisation - a commitment to asking searching questions, examining systems, processes and working methods and to getting all staff to buy-in and participate in thinking up new ways to do old things.

Forget the promise of the ‘productivity revolution’.  Get the organisation thinking hard and working hard to ask - and then answer- all the difficult questions that need to be asked.

Where iwill AI work best

 I am slightly sceptical about the great productivity gains suggested for AI.  I hope I am wrong but I think it may take quite some time before the ‘intelligence’ of AI gives solid results.  That is not to say that AI will not bring benefits, such as productivity improvements, only that we should not expect too much too soon.

There is ,though, one area/industry that seems ready for AI - healthcare.

Healthcare has a lot of bureaucracy and many medical and para-medical staff spend far too much of their time filling in forms, recording data and generally keeping the vast bureaucratic machine fed.  If we can reduce this feeding frenzy, we save time and increase job satisfaction (or at less reduce dissatisfaction and frustration).

We have also seen advances in areas such as diagnostic analysis resulting from machine learning (which is what a lot stuff we now call AI really is). Analysing large MRI and other scans is faster and more reliable using AI.  AI isn’t perfect at such analysis and subsequent diagnosis but tests suggest its success levels match or exceed those of most doctors.

The next stage is for AI to make recommendations as to further tests or even potential treatments.Such processes will improve over time as AI ‘learns from its mistakes’ and learns from actual outcomes.

AI is unlikely in the near term to take over any ‘hands on’ work of doctors and nurses.  But if it can reduce the ‘side load’ of bureaucracy and speed up diagnosis and determination of treatment, we could see quite large productivity gains in the relatively short-term future.

Seek ou  similar 'support' areas in your organisation to which you might spply AI.

Help Your Employees Stay Healthy

 Many employees, when asked in job satisfaction surveys, express the view that they are constantly tired and often under stress. Even in organisations with standard work hours, employees are increasingly expected to be available during evenings, weekends, and vacations.

Now a degree of stress can be helpful in motivating and focusing employees but too much can result in tension and ill-health - both mental and physical.

You, as (hopefully) a progressive employer should recognise this and take measures to control stress levels, knowing it is good for the employees and good for your business. 

Your workplace should embrace a culture of self-care and relaxation, which enables your employees to enjoy reduced stress, better rest, and an enhanced work-life balance, ultimately boosting overall well-being and productivity.

Of course, those employees must know that any measures taken are genuine and based on appropriate values and respect for employees’ well-being.  They will  recognise ‘lip service’ and inauthentic approaches and messages.

Rather than opting for time-consuming training programs on self care, you and your managers can benefit from training that focuses on creating an environment and culture conducive to well-being. Yoiu can also seek to  use technology to increase employee freedom without sacrificing productivity.

Your employees should be encouraged to set realistic rest regimes both at work and at home - helped by a consistent bedtime regime.

They must realise that a major part of the solution to their problem lies in their own hands.  

The company helps and supports.

How Was The Pandemic for You?

 It is apparent that many people gained a fresh perspective on their own lives during the pandemic.  They now want the mix of home and work life they enjoyed when forced to stay out of the office.  

I have written enough about my view of home and hybrid working - and its impact on the productivity of an organisation.   (Spoiler for those who did not read those posts : I think it is not helpful.)  

This time I want to approach the experience of the forced seclusion from a different angle.

Truly successful people constantly develop themselves alongside working for an employer - or they turn to running their own business.

How many of your employees during the pandemic:

- [ ] Learned a new skill

- [ ] Acquired new knowledge

- [ ] Planned a modified future for yourself and/or your family

If the did  none of these, what were they  doing?  Why were they wasting this glaring opportunity to improve their future?  Are they the kind of employees you want?

Perhaps it is because you have not been encouraging, or supporting them, in their self-development.

Think about ir.

Speed is Still Not Everything

I wrote a week ago about the danger of thinking that (productivity) improvement is always about increasing speed.

I thought this week about an example that sums this up quite nicely.

I went recently to a performance by a small group of classical musicians  - playing a variety of materials from several composers.   (This is not really my primary choice of music but it does make a refreshing change to hear top class musicians playing sophisticated, complex music.)

However, my mind can wander when the music does not contain ‘tunes’ that I know.  On one such occasion, I thought about how little the concert I was watching would have changed from a similar concept 100 or even 200 years ago.

Was it better or worse?  Possibly the most important change is that classical music is now much more accessible to all members of society, rather than being the preserve of the very rich.  Recordings exist. Concert performances are relatively common and cheap. Instruments are much cheaper - although at the top end this is not true.

However the time taken to perform a specific piece is still the same.  Speed has not changed - nor is its likely to.

Speed is not everything!

Don't concentrate just on speed

 I have talked here before about the danger in concentrating on speed of operation as the primary focus of improvement efforts.  It can, for example mean a drop in quality…. and it can mean a team or line becomes unbalanced.  

What we should try to do is to improve the speed of an entire unit or process - making sure the trees is working with s single purpose in pursuit of agreed aims and objectives.

All members of three teams should share the same mindset - we work together and we support each other.

(If mutual support cannot be provided, you may have to put in some external stimulus)but make sure this is seen as encouragement rather than as punishment.)

Team development is one key to success.

Thev Right Fomr of Ignorance

 Sometimes when looking at problems or searching for innovation, it is a handicap to have too much knowledge of the context of the problem.

For example, if you give the problem of spanning a river to a bridge-builder, you will get a bridge as the solution.  It might be a great-looking bridge and/or one with little bits of innovative engineering, but it will not be too dissimilar from past bridges. The advantages are that it will almost certainly be buildable and stable.  

If you give the same problem to a design student with  little or no engineering knowledge, you might get a fabulous, innovative design which looks little like any existing bridge.  It might be unworkable, unbuildable and even dangerous if it were built but it will look- and perhaps - act differently.  

If you combine the talents of a great designer with a great bridge-builder, you will perhaps get the best of both worlds - an innovative deign that is buildable and will prove effective in use.

The ‘ignorance’ of the designer is tempered by the ‘knowledge and skills’ of the bridge-builder.

This is true in other walks of life snd areas of technology - creative people ignorant of the technology can come up with idea which  someone with the appropriate knowledge and skills can turn into a workable solution without losing too much of the innovation snd flair of the original deign.

Ignorance within a team can result in creativity.