Digital Overload

We have all experienced sensory overload due to the deluge of emails we receive.  This is even more so for those of us whose organisations have provided us with a range of helpful (?) productivity tools like Google Docs, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, Zoom and so on.

These were often introduced during the pandemic to enable remote communication and remote working.

Now, however, they just provide constant interruption and distraction.

It is made even worse because it gives us so many more logons and passwords to remember and each of them has a different user interface.

If this sounds like your organisation, perhaps it’s time for an audit of such tools and a cull of those no longer essential.  Even better, if you can replace some with others from the same family as your most essential tools so that single sign-on and consistent user interfaces reduce the load on employees.

In Retrospect

A new trend is emerging of organisations organising review and retrospection meetings - perhaps every 2 weeks or so to allow employees (collectively) to review what they’ve done, what they’ve achieved, what went well and what didn’t.  The meeting is a safe space in which employees can speak freely and honestly, even critically.  It helps managers identify ways in which processes and working methods can be improved.

It might not make revolutionary change but it should offer incremental changes - and it lets employees know their feedback is important.

The method shares some features with Kaizen, being an ongoing form of continuous review and improvement - but it is simple to organise.

The simplest version organises meetings of working teams but it is helpful to hold some cross-team and cross-function meetings so that the handoff points between teams are also considered.

The results should be increased productivity and enhanced employee satisfaction - a true ‘win-win’ situation.

Where is the growth engine?

Lots of countries that expanded their productivity through the 1980s and 1990s have slowed to a crawl.  Their 'growth engines' seem to have disappeared or been dismantled.  COVID-19 may have been the final nail in the coffin (or the puncture in the tyre).

Many of these companies are still trying to restart their engines - but with little success.

Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that I think the general belief in flexible working is unfounded - and is part of the problem, not the solution.

The extended lines of communication - and particularly, collaboration - result in less innovation, less consensus, less shared understanding of mission and vision - and in more confusion and complexity.

Organisations need to move from 'copycat' products and processes to fresh, innovative, extended products and services, and new ways of working underpinned as appropriate with new technologies - all focused on improving quality and efficiency, more consistency and less waste.

At the same time, organisations must pay attention to the 'softer' issues - such as culture and the training, development and  empowerment of staff, releasing potential to explore - and share -new ideas.  This is what fuels the growth engine.

Governments, for their part, must review and revise the infrastructure - transport, technology, macro-economic, regulatory.  All of these components must be in place if the new growth engine is to work effectively.

Some countries used to so this well.

 They can again.

Continuity

Getting people back to the office is proving difficult for many organisations. Employees have got used to the flexibility, and to the lack of commuting, associated with home working.

Many organisations have saved money by allowing users to use their own technology and furniture  (saving the organisation the cost and trouble of providing and supporting it.)

But this creates more problems.  Firstly, security of company data, more likely to leak from a personal PC than a company one which has been secured. 

Secondly, I would bet that few organisations have revised their business continuity plans to take account of al this home and hybrid working. It may be much harder to restart business after some form of disaster- including malicious cyber attacks.

So, before it is too late- check your business continuity plan and revise it where necessary to make sure your home workers are covered.

Can I have some more, Sir?

We all need more food.  The world population continues to grow.  At the same time, however, we devote less land to agriculture as we create mega cities and urban sprawl.

The only solution is  increased agricultural productivity.

However, an annual report from Virginia Tech University in the US shows agriculture is behind the pace of meeting the productivity needs of 2050.  The report suggests that  human-caused climate change has slowed global agricultural productivity growth by 21 percent since 1961.  As food producers battle to cope with the effects of climate change, productivity falls.

This is a recipe for disaster -not just for poorer nations, but for all of us.  It will have all sorts of ramifications - some we can predict, others we cannot.

We have to face this as a global community.