Is Manufacturing positively productve?

  f course it is.  By its very definition, it produces. It turns out goods - often in high quantities.

But does manufacturing have high productivity?

Yes, normally it does.  Over the years, manufacturing has adopted lots of new technologies - and all of these have had a positive effect on productivity… reducing the time taken to produce goods - and reducing the number of people required to produce them.

What this all means is that over the years since the Industrial revolution brought about the modern manufacturing sector, productivity has risen massively.  This has resulted in those who own and run the sector becoming wealthy - in some cases, massively wealthy.

In the early decades, it also saw massive growth in labour as people flocked from the countryside to the cities and took up jobs in the emerging manufacturing sector.  

This was accelerated as agricultural productivity also rocketed and the demand for labour in the farms and fields steadily diminished.

But more recently the rise in automation, in robotics - and now in AI - has seen the need for manufacturing labour decline.

So, manufacturing still generates wealth - but that wealth is shared by fewer people!

The continuing rise in robots and AI will mean fewer opportunities for people to engage in well-paid, skilled work in the sector.  Fewer people still will share in the wealth generated.

If these trends continue unabated, we might one day see a world where a few mega-factories produce lots of goods - and produce them with high productivity processes and systems … but there is no-one left  to buy the goods produced.  The potential customers are on the breadline - worrying not about new phones or TVs but about their next meal.

Please tell me my vision of the future is not real!.  

Please tell me government - and academics - are working on new forms of government and policy that will prevent this future coming about!

Please tell me that the pursuit of higher productivity is not shortly to become counter-productive!

All-Purpose

When starting a task - a simple one or a complex multi-faceted project - the most important factors are to fully understand the context of the task - and your purpose in starting it.

What are you trying to achieve?

Why is this task/project important in achieving your goals?

If you do fully understand the purpose, you are more likely to have a positive attitude towards the task.

This is particularly important if the task itself has unpleasant or inconvenient aspects to it.  For example if the task is to discipline a member of staff, you might find such a task difficult and keep putting it off. If, however, you can see the true underlying purpose (or purposes) of this task - perhaps to help this member off staff improve their contribution, or to show other members of staff that you treat everyone fairly , praising and penalising as appropriate - it becomes easier to undertake. 

For more complicated , perhaps more serious tasks, understanding the purpose should mean you are much less likely to make a mistake or to mis-communicate to others with regard to the task.

It should also help you set meaningful goals and intermediate targets.

So, take the time to think through the items on your ToDo list or in your strategic plan - and fully understand why each needs to be successfully completed.  If you don't understand the purpose, why do it?

Thinking Time

There is quite s variety of views on the effectiveness of multi-tasking. Some people think it is essential to cope with the demands of a modern workplace. Others think it simply distracts from the efficiency of single-focus work.

There is some truth in both views and whether multitasking is 'right' for a worker depends on his/her personality and on the nature of the work.

This blog post, however, is not intending to come down on one side of the debate or the other.

It is to remind you that in a modern, multi-faceted, ultra-busy working world, it is essential to make time….. to think.  

This may mean making small adjustments to your current working processes and workflows.  For example, project teams should make sure they meet together regularly to avoid the need to send emails around the team which arrive and are dealt with asynchronously and may result in mis-communication, misunderstanding and delays.

Perhaps a short catchup meeting (face-to-face or virtual) at the end of each day will ensure everyone is 'on the same page' and information can be shared, discussed and used as the basis for decisions.

Perhaps ten minutes at the end of each lunch break can be set aside for a communications blackout and a 'thinking window'.

Everyone - and each team - should think about what might work for them - to give them reflection and thinking time … and if the agreed team protocol does not work for you, you need to superimpose your additional, individual framework to met your own needs.

Think about it!

Dont't Worry About the Best

 ’m interested in both technology and productivity so naturally I have an interest in how technology can underpin improved productivity

 Like lots of people recently, I have been experimenting with AI software.

What becomes clear very quickly is that ‘there is a lot of it about’.  Most people are aware of the existence of ChatGPT but there are many other examples of AI software, often with particular abilities or focused on a particular function or sector.  Certainly there are too many for me to test and evaluate.  When I started looking at AI, I wanted to use the ‘best’ software.  But identifying the ‘best’ means the best for my circumstances, my situation, my purpose and my tasks. 

You can (and I did) read reviews to shorten the list of possibilities - but all those ’my’s in the list above mean that reviews do not necessarily help identify what is best for mw.

Additionally, AI is progressing at a fast rate and what you identify as ’best’ now may not be the ’best’ in a few months time.

So I did what I had to do - choose a relatively general purpose software package which would allows me to experiment across a range of applications and tasks..

The point of this tale is not to inform you of how to choose AI software but to remind you that the ’best’ is often an unhelpful objective to pursue.  Searching for perfection often means taking too long or costing too much. All productivity facilitators need a healthy dose of pragmatism - realising that ‘better’ is often good enough!

Its not only what YOU think

What makes a given process or situation more productive is often a set of factors, some of which are relatively simple and others complex and perhaps hidden.

Assume you work for a forestry company.  How do you make the forests owned or managed b y the company more productive?

You might think of trying different fertilisers, irrigation regimes,  pollarding/thinning techniques and so on.

However, without significant expertise and experience in forest management, you would be very unlikely to know - or even suspect, that more complex forests have higher productivity (or rates of photosynthesis).

Yet,, researchers are finding that the arrangement of trees affects photosynthesis .  In particular, a variety of tree heights - known as high vertical heterogeneity - affects how trees use water to create biomass - and be more productive 

In other areas, similar surprising factors emerge - so any technical productivity initiative needs a mixed team - pf productivity experts/facilitators working with subject experts - to identify and develop the hidden factors.

I have always said that the main 'tool' of the productivity facilitator, is the ability to ask questions.  Having a technical expert as part of the team means be useful in getting original answers.  Certainly it is always useful to get others thinking about problems - the more minds you have focused on a problem , the more likely a solution becomes.

Should You Become a Monk?

Strange question for a productivity blog, perhaps  but stay with me.

Increasing evidence suggests that multitasking is distracting. As is the interjection into the work-place and workstream of email, telephone vocals snd other distractions.  People have realised this for some time and s number of them have come to the same  conclusion - that they need to hunker down and concentrate for some time on a single task 

Inspired by the single-mindedness of monks throughout the ages, this has become known as entering 'monk mode'. -  intense periods of uninterrupted focus to optimise productivity. It involves hyperfocusing on a single task and removing all distractions. As well as making the person more productive on that one, singular task, monk mode has the added advantage of reducing burnout caused by the constant shuffling of resources to work on different projects snd tasks.

You must ensure that your colleagues are aware of this shift of process and you, yourself, must ensure that all potential distractions are removed or reduced.Some people use monk mode at quiet periods of the day - even before official start and after official end times.  Make sure your workspace is tidy - untidiness is a source of distraction.  If it starts tidy, it should end tidy.

Monk mode won't work for all jobs, all tasks, or all people.  But for many, it does seem to - and its worth a try to see if it works for you.

You Need a Plan B

 Managers make plans.  They do it often and over long periods of time.  The rest of their time is spent executing those plans.

However, as we all know, sometimes things go wrong.  Worse still, often those things going wrong are outside of your control or sphere of influence - you are simply a victim of their effects.

Effective managers have built a risk register, mitigating actions and even a backup plan, ready for such occurrences They learn that they should think through every decision and every action built into their plan and identify what might go wrong - and what external factors might affect it.  Then they plan in detail or in outline depending on he nature of the threat, what actions they might take if things do go wrong.

Jim Collins, the management guru and author of the book From Good to Great, calls this 'Productive Paranoia', suggesting that we should all be paranoid about future events that might derail our plans.

“The question is not if bad things will happen, it’s when,” Collins said during the 2023 World Business Forum summit. “And it’s what you do before the storm comes” that determines how well you’ll react or recover.

Of course, overthinking about unfortunate events or calamities can be dangerous, but not as bad as expecting all things to turn out as you plan.

You really DO need a Plan B. 

Education: What is it For?

What is the purpose of education ? Actually the question should split into:  What is currently the purpose of education?. What is the purpose of future education?

As fewer of us will have jobs in the future (because we cannot match the productivity of robots and AI agents), our grandchildren will not need education to prepare them for the world of work.  We need to prepare them for a world of  no-work, of leisure, of filling their time constructively without the inherent motivation of work.

This assumes, of course, that (part of) the wealth generated by automated processes and systems is divided among these non-working citizens in the form of q universal basic income which meets their essential safety and security needs.

Education can then , and must, concentrate on their personal development and their enrichment.

The number of changes this will require of current education models is frightening and I do not have great confidence in the ability of our educators to refine their models appropriately.  If they don't we will condemn future generations to increasing frustration snd lack of direction.

Oddly enough,. some of the answers lie in the changes that are bringing about this situation.   We need our children to go through something similar to 'machine learning' whereby we allow them to experience situations through which they can develop their own knowledge and perhaps experiment with new ideas.  No longer do they have to accept a standardised model of learning - they develop their own,

Their learning and development must include social development so some of this learning must be in groups - but these can be mixed age, mixed gender, mixed ability - though we may have trouble defining 'ability' in this new world.

I hope someone with power and influence is already thinking about, and planning, this new system as it will be a long and difficult transition.  I also hope that future parents realise their part in this transition. In fact their participation is essential since if we leave it to governments, the drag of bureaucracy might mean it never happens - or not until it is too late for the next few generations.

Ask the Right People the Right Questions

As a productivity professional, you get into the habit of asking 'awkward' questions - why do we do that?; why do you do that in that way?;

But there are other questions that can be just as useful in uncovering the reasons for lost productivity.

Occasionally, you've should go to the key points in a process - the bottlenecks , any source of errors, areas of high cost,.  Talk to the people who operate the process and ask therm:

"Tell me what you do every day"

"When you do those things, what gets in your way?"

"What affects the quality of your work?

"What changes would you like to see?"

Then ask supervisors the same questions about their team.

Triangulate ehe answers to see if they agree/correlate.  If not, find out why not.  

Ask the supervisors if the operator responses are realistic.  Are they fair?  Why did you not raise these issues with your line manager?

Now, you have some avenues of enquiry to pursue.

The worst that can happen is that you don't make significant improvements - but you will almost certainly have delighted your employees with your attempt to understand and deal with their concerns. You will have motivated your supervisors to monitor future operator views and suggestions.  Satisfaction/morale should rise - and trigger  higher productivity.

The best that can happen is that you will find that you have started a virtuous cycle of enquiry and improvement.

Safe Working is Productive Working

What is the relationship between safety at work and the productivity of that work?

Organisations that fail to take all possible safety measures are obviously more at risk of accidents and injuries - and in many countries, a risk of prosecution.

These consequences can naturally have a negative effect on performance and productivity.

However, these are only the direct consequences of the failure to tackle safety seriously.  There is also a range of indirect or secondary factors. Some of these are fairly obvious, others perhaps less so,

For example, there may be a loss of core and key skills as workers are injured (or worse).This can harm performance immediately and severely - and has an impact on both hiring and staff training costs as the organisation tries to replace those skills.  This is exacerbated if current employees look at the safety recored and decide to take their skills and experience to a safer competitor. (This can even be the start of a vicious cycle of decline as the problem worsens over time.)

If a series of accidents is made public (and if the accidents are serious, then word will spread) the organisation's reputation will suffer. Again, this impacts on potential employees who will not want to join an organisation that may fail to look after their well-being.  It is also possible that the publicity will impact on potential customers and their desire to do business with a company that fails to safeguard its employees.

All organisations should:

• Ensure that process and work design puts safety front and central in the design process, eliminating potential accidents at this earliest stage.
• Avoid bottlenecks that can induce and increase stress
• Design tools and equipment the help prevent accidents and errors
• Collect and analyse data on accidents and incidents so that all hazard points are identified and dealt with
• Have comprehensive and robust preventative maintenance processes and schedules, to ensure accidents never occur through poorly maintained machines and equipment
• Regularly review environmental conditions - heating and, especially, lighting.
• Ensure all cleaning staff are taught to recognise and report all safety hazards
• Where technically and economically possible, use self-monitoring equipment that can identify emerging faults and defects
• Adopt realistic performance targets that are based on safe working.

As a bonus, these factors should also reduce total operating costs, reduce the costs of poor quality,  reduce carbon emissions, lower electricity consumption, and provide sustainability and environmental benefits. 

The answer to our original question is that productivity and safety are positively correlated.

The Importance of Engagement

Workforce engagement is important because it is linked with (and underpins) effort, innovation, productivity, and retention—and in industries/sectors/geographical areas with a competitive landscape and a shortage of talent, it can make or break a company, its culture,  its performance, and its ability to succeed.

What is 'engagement'?

In essence, it is the emotional attachment employees feel for their organisation, its values, its mission, and its working methods. Engaged employees are more committed, more dedicated, and more productive.

Although perhaps these 'outputs' of engagement are the most important result of improved engagement, this is also seen in the behaviours of employees at work, their relationships with other members of their workgroup, and their relationships with their superiors/managers.

People who are engaged are responsive, interested, and share ideas— and recognise the contributions of others.

Just as importantly, they tend to handle conflict and disagreement in constructive ways, working through issues to come to agreement or consensus.

So how do we improve engagement?

We make sure that people know what the company— and their team— is aiming to achieve— overall and in the current period. They understand where their role fits into the bigger picture.

Perhaps the most important factor is that people need to believe their role/job matters— it is meaningful and valued. They know that their individual role, their individual values, and their aspirations and ambitions are known by their superior(s).  They have regular contact and interaction with those superiors to discuss their performance, satisfaction, aspirations, and development needs— where they can grow to mutual self and organisational benefit.

They value a degree of choice and control— so prefer a role that offers some flexibility and autonomy.  Micromanagement lessens engagement.

All you have to do is to provide these conditions, to be present and accessible to your staff, to communicate on all key issues, respecting staff views and responses.  Behave consistently, reinforcing agreed values.  Where employees exhibit 'errant' behaviours, step in and discuss reasons why.  

This is not a one-off exercise— it must be continual and consistent behaviour.

Start NOW - but never stop!