Productivity is a source of confidence and happiness.
According to IBM, leaders’ top concern is productivity: 48% of CEOs now believe this will be their highest priority over the next three years. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why. Executive Teams are being pressured externally or internally to increase revenue, grow faster, and improve profitability while doing so with less overhead. It’s like a 40-yard dash with no finish line.
Even if you aren’t in the C-Suite, you know exactly what I am talking about in your role as a manager or individual contributor because organizational pressure gets pushed down.
Pressure in organizations gets pushed down.
Most managers looking to deal with the increased pressure to improve productivity and profitability think the solution lies in major organizational change or significant investments in outsourcing or technology. While these can be valuable approaches, have you ever stopped to consider that the answer lies in getting managers to act like leaders?
Productivity Isn’t Optimized Alone
Productivity, in its simplest form, is the ability of an individual or group to work efficiently within a certain amount of time to maximize output. This is most often measured by the quality of the work, progress on tasks, or outcomes delivered on time.
Not all jobs produce revenue, but all jobs are measured on productivity.
Being highly productive over time results from a mix of factors: time management, motivation, talent, skills, personality, and even luck. While all of those factors are important, the one most often forgotten is support from others. Individuals can be productive alone, but they can be supercharged with the help of others.
Take “body doubling” as an example. If you aren’t familiar with the term, body doubling is a concept that involves two or more people working in the same space, virtually or physically, without collaborating on the same task. Companies like Focusmate exist to pair people together to work independently to help increase productivity and focus. I have been using it for a couple of weeks, and it’s easily boosted my productivity by 30% every time I use it. Most professionals who leverage body doubling report being 2x or even 3x more productive by introducing an element of external pressure and accountability.
Whether you use body doubling to increase productivity isn’t the point. Other people significantly impact productivity, whether you know it or not.
The Hawthorne Effect
In 1932, General Electric’s management team sought ways to improve worker productivity. One of the team members had an off-the-wall idea, “Let’s try making the lights brighter in the plant.” So, they hired a team of researchers to determine if bright or dim lights affected productivity.
Researchers were surprised to find that productivity improved not only when lights were brighter but also when lights were dimmed. They concluded that the workers’ performance increased simply because they were aware they were being observed. Thus, the Hawthorne Effect was born, which simply states that people modify their behaviors in response to being observed. Kind of obvious, right?
People modify their behaviors in response to being observed.
Team members increase focus and have a perception that their actions are more important when they know someone else is observing what they are doing. One study found that Productivity can increase by 20% to 50% when employees believe they’re being followed.
How Leaders Can Use the Hawthorne Effect
From a leadership perspective, the Hawthorne Effect can be adopted to boost productivity, but not how you are thinking about it. The modern-day Hawthorne Effect for leaders is different from some big brother micromanaging approaches. The reason is that no one likes to be micromanaged.
So, please don’t allow your current title or authority to create a false belief that employees want you to be overbearing and do their work for them. Being overcontrolling makes it painful to work with you and excruciating to work for you. The best leaders understand the path to effective leadership is paved with empowerment, not control.
Being overcontrolling makes it painful to work with you and excruciating to work for you.
Instead, lean into the idea of showing genuine interest in the work team members do and making them aware that you notice and are watching the effort that they put in. Said differently, create an environment where team members feel their work is essential and noticed.
Great leaders create an environment where team members feel their work is essential and noticed.
Closing
It’s tempting to fall into the trap of hiring great people and getting out of the way. While there is some truth in the statement, the best leaders recognize that even the highest performers can increase their productivity with the help of other people. Peter Drucker famously said, “The productivity of the work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.”
Getting managers to act like leaders by inspiring, empowering, serving, and coaching their teams to higher productivity levels is a strategy worth action.
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About the Author John Eades is the CEO of LearnLoft, and creator of the Accelerate Leadership Program. He was named one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices. John is also the author of Building the Best: 8 Proven Leadership Principles to Elevate Others to Success. You can follow him on Instagram @johngeades.