Is Your Workplace Hampering or Enabling Productivity?

A post-COVID environment.

Sounds like something out of Mad Max (See: Gibson, Mel or Hardy, Tom - depending entirely on your reaction to the word ‘Boomer’).

But here we are on the precipice of regaining a semblance of our old lives both in the personal and professional space.

For some of us working from home has been great – spending time with the family, baking banana bread, pumping out the work and generally being highly productive.

Thriving, counter to most expectations.

For others it has been chaotic – spending time with the family, burnt banana bread, and few opportunities for the collaboration, guidance and thought-driving interaction they require to perform optimally.

Same coin. Two sides.

And that’s ok because one size does not and will never fit all.

So, if we think critically (and empirically) it would benefit businesses to offer diversified working options not just as a temporary, progressive perk but as the norm.

Many managers and employees are now coming to the realisation that remote working is often more productive than working in the office – counter to what was originally suspected.

Statistics show that offices are often a harmful environment for productivity with workers interrupted on average once every 11 minutes and, if left uninterrupted following that interaction, take another 22 minutes to get back to full productivity. (Management Issues)

So why rush to drive everyone back into the office?

While not everyone excels in a remote working environment, the reality is we will be splitting our work time between the office and our homes for the foreseeable future so investing in a diversified work force makes sense for businesses.

A key component of this is ensuring your teams are equipped with the digital tools they require to achieve the outcomes you have specified – the best are those that bring work, teams and information together in one place for ease of access and collaboration.

Because if you have this in place, hire competent, motivated people and provide them with a clear understanding of the required outputs does you can sit back and watch them deliver.

If that’s the case then it doesn’t really matter from where they’re getting the job done.

The past couple of months have been a fascinating experiment which should have provided a true understanding of and appreciation for the benefits remote working can provide both employers and employees.

In doing so each business now has a chance to define their new normal so why make the mistake of reverting to the old ways of working when we can do so much better?

Embrace diversification. Bring your people, work, and information together. Ensure ease of access and collaboration. Be outcome focused.

Do this and it won’t matter if your employees are beside you in the office, at home, or on the other side of the world – they’ll deliver and thank you for it.

If this version of the new normal sounds like you then we can help you get there.

Read more about the never-ending hunt for information, how messaging apps are driving distraction in the workplace,  or learn ABOUT PIQNIC and how we solve these issues. 

If you’re a manger trying to get to grips with this new way of working, sign up for our remote working checklist:

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