It’s no secret that businesses spy on their employees. As stated by the New York Times in its latest article, eight of the ten largest American corporations use monitoring software to monitor their workers. According to reports by The Washington Post, between 2019 and 2022, the global demand for employee monitoring technologies increased by 65%.
Corporate executives have become suspicious due to the rise of remote labor, believing they must keep an eye on their workers’ every digital activity.
Vanity metrics, such as the number of emails sent, the number of virtual meetings attended, and how much time they spend typing on their computer, are frequently measured by staff productivity software such as Controlio. It doesn’t measure achievements and results or track activities away from the computer, such as thinking, reading, or writing on paper. This use case for their products is not even supported by the industry leaders in productivity software. The organization’s internet access policy, enforced through Controlio, ensures secure and efficient usage while restricting non-essential browsing during work hours.
“We have a very limited understanding of an individual’s contributions to their organization when we measure productivity based on surface-level activity like messages sent,'” Slack senior vice president Brian Elliott told The Washington Post. “In addition to being arbitrary, it is typically ineffective.”
Employees are more inclined to prioritize emails and messages over their primary tasks when they are aware that productivity software is being used to monitor their performance. According to consultant turned professor Leslie Perlow’s book Sleeping with Your Smartphone, this feeds a horrible “cycle of responsiveness.” In order to better meet the rising demands on their time, workers adapt to work-related expectations by changing their daily routines, technology use, and even how they live their lives and connect with their loved ones.
Although managers might not be able to influence whether their organization uses productivity tools, they can assess whether their management approach is conveying the same message. Consider this:
- Do you anticipate receiving emails almost instantly?
- Do you send “just wanted to make sure you saw my last email” emails or do you request status updates on a frequent basis?
- Do you arrange check-ins according to your timetable without taking your employees’ needs into account?
- Are your “brainstorming sessions” agenda-free?
If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, you are probably distracting your staff rather than energizing it. You can create an unbeatable workplace by implementing these four tactics.
Start a Conversation About Distractions
One of the main issues with workplace distraction is that we are unable to discuss the issue. If workers are afraid of being retaliated for voicing their opinions, asking them about the biggest job distractions won’t be successful.
Managers must create psychological safety, which psychologists describe as the feeling of safety that results from the fact that there is no punishment for articulating valid concerns. That’s what will enable them to operate at full capacity. You can’t solve workplace problems until people feel comfortable talking about them. It’s likely that there are numerous other skeletons in the closet that you are unable to discuss if your company is unable to discuss distraction.
Sync Your Schedule With Your Staff
For instance, most of the managers do not know how their staff members spend their time. When individuals take a longer time than required to perform assignments and projects, you may begin to question whether they are able and motivated enough to deliver their work efficiently.
However, this is probably not the case. Employee distractions are probably caused by incessant interruptions, needless meetings, and an endless stream of emails, some of which you may have started. You may learn more about how individuals spend their time by synchronizing your schedule, which can be done in a number of ways.
Asking staff members to share a timeboxed calendar of their planned activities and times, such as when they prefer to respond to emails and messages, work intently, or be accessible for calls and meetings, is one way to get them to do this. This enables you to see how they organize their day so you can steer clear of distractions during their concentrated work or downtime or, if needed, recommend reordering. To let staff members know when they can—or cannot—interrupt you, you can also share your calendar.
Setting out specified times each day for your team to avoid distractions, such as messages, calls, emails, meetings, and brief in-person check-ins, is another strategy for synchronizing schedules. For anybody. You can better understand how employees use their time without micromanaging them by implementing schedule-syncing strategies.
Meetings Should Never Be Held Without an Agenda
Consider the number of meetings you attended during the previous week. Now consider how many of those encounters were pointless and probably could have been handled via email. Next, think about the number of meetings you attended when the organizer distributed an agenda. Very few, I’d venture.
Agendas were created for a purpose, and while high school student council groups follow this practice, when people enter the business world, they seem to forget it.
All too frequently, people arrange a meeting in order to avoid having to work hard to find a solution on their own. Meetings should not be used as a diversion from the difficult task of thinking, even though collaboration may be a very effective instrument for solving problems.
By adding a little work on the part of the organizer before holding a meeting, requiring an agenda helps keep everyone on track and reduces the number of pointless meetings.
