- Introduction to Productivity Killers
- What is a productivity killer?
- 17 Productivity killers in the workplace
- Productivity Killers - Conclusion
Introduction to Productivity Killers
It is not good for anyone to become totally unproductive if they want to succeed in life. One way of doing that is to refrain from adopting bad habits that can lead you down the path of self-destruction.Now we could say that what is considered a bad habit for one person is not always considered a bad habit by another but it can affect those around them.
Also, remember here we are looking at habits that can influence the way you think about productivity in the office.
What is a productivity killer?
Workplace productivity killers can be identified as bad habits that will prevent you from performing at your best and delay or stop you from achieving your goals.
We are not talking about performance against what your boss demands of you but rather measured against your own needs and abilities.
We all know the boss can have unrealistic demands and have no knowledge of your abilities.
17 Top productivity killers in the workplace
Here we will look at some of the most common productivity killers you will come across in every workplace no matter what industry you are in.
Meetings
We are not saying all meetings are bad for productivity but some people have straight-on-time wasters scheduled all day long and one after the other causing interruptions in workflow.
In most cases, it is not about what is discussed during these meetings but rather a need for individuals to create the image of a hard worker.
A meeting should have a planned purpose, objectives to be reached, and positive outcomes before it can be considered productive.
Meetings should also be limited in time so once your discussion objectives are reached the meeting should end.
EMails
Most of us do not read 80% of the emails in our inbox but you do get people that will read each one and feel the need to say something even if they don't need to get involved.This is called the "Social Media Syndrome" where the reader participates only to feel important with no real contribution to the end result.
Most companies also do not spend time on email etiquette training so people get into the bad habit of copying as many people as possible instead of the selective few or individuals who need to act on the email.
There is a lot of useless information floating around on the internal mail servers of companies. The lazy thrive on looking to keep busy forwarding emails all day long.
Gossip
Passage talk or water cooler talk can develop into lengthy discussions where there are no other social connections between staff members.
If not allowed to talk while working your staff members will find a way and a place during their workday to share their juicy stories.
Spreading rumours and stories can take up a lot of time during the day and can also be responsible for workplace negativity.
Social Networking
Although many companies encourage social networking between their customers and staff it does not mean it is productive time spent.
There is no way to see how much social networking is directed toward the business interest and how much is private.
On the other hand, if you expect your workers to spend time on social media 24/7 for your benefit then you probably deserve them stealing your time during work hours.
In today's time, social media wastes more time than old-fashioned smoke breaks.
Distraction from co-workers
Stopping off at a colleague's desk just to share a story quickly can also waste some valuable time. A quick chat can turn into a lengthy conversation easily.
Most of these interruptions also happen when they have free time on their hands but you do not.
Regular pop-in visits can be very annoying and totally unproductive.
Telephones
No matter what the feeling is about telephones mobile or fixed-line. It is the biggest distraction during working hours and unneeded calls are unproductive beyond recovery.
It also tends to have a knock-on effect such as getting involved with matters unplanned which can eliminate any plans you had for the day.
Training staff on the use of phones and the transferring of calls go a long way to making sure the right people get the call.
For example how often did you phone with a query and speak to four or five people before someone can give you the right information?
This is a typical situation where employees have no idea who does what in the organization.
Unplanned Breaks
Planned breaks are more productive as the active period has a clearly defined start and end time so the focus on work is better.
Unplanned breaks such as fetching a cup of coffee quickly hamper productivity because it is sudden and demolish focus and attention span.
Unplanned breaks are mostly used by individuals as an excuse to break away from the tasks they are busy with it.
Misidentified priorities
Maybe also a common time-waster of which most people do not take notice is working on the wrong priority.
Misidentified priorities are when you are working on trivial tasks while shying away from more important tasks that need immediate attention.
Some people don't do this on purpose but subconsciously humans tend to take the easy way out.
Toxic environments
Where there is no harmony in the workplace and backstabbing, gossip and other negative actions cause staff to withdraw and operate in isolation.
This type of environment is totally unproductive as a productive environment requires teamwork and healthy interaction between individuals.
The negativity in a toxic environment affects everything from productivity to the overall performance of a company.
In severe cases, it can cause the company to close down due to its financial performance.
Conflicting personal interest
People spending more time at work looking after their own personal interests can also be the cause of killing productivity.
Especially at higher levels where the leadership is lining their own pockets at the expense of company needs.
Productivity declines very quickly as the focus is on a personal interest which will always have the individual's preference as the first priority.
Not utilizing sick leave
People who come to work sick and do not utilise sick leave are not productive at all.
They also create a knock-on effect by transferring their illness to co-workers who join the non-productive line quickly.
Sick leave is provided so that illness can be contained outside of the workplace.
Most employees will abuse their sick leave but we found those are the unproductive part of the organization anyway.
Loyal and productive workers are the ones not abusing their sick leave when they need to.
Travelling arrangements
Not being able to get to work when you need to can kill productivity from the start of the shift to the end of the shift.
Having incorrect travelling arrangements to and from work can affect not only the individual's performance but also those reliant on his actions.
This can cause a breakdown in work processes which leads in turn to productive time wasted.
This can cause a breakdown in work processes which leads in turn to productive time wasted.
Being the "yes" body
Not knowing when to say "no" can become very unproductive. Individuals who do not know how to say "no" have the ability to take on too much and complete very little.
Even if completed, these tasks normally have poor-quality end results and were better off left alone for someone else.
Most of the time it was someone else's responsibility anyway.
Multitasking
The misinterpretation of the multitasking concept by a business is a huge productivity killer.
This concept does not expect employees to do more than one function at a time but only to have the knowledge to perform other tasks.
Through labour exploitation, it gave some employers the leverage to cramp more than one function into a single portfolio.
It does not help in the end as staff members will prioritize what they believe is their expertise and perform poorly on the rest.
Procrastination
Delaying important tasks and priorities can have a chain reaction in the work process.
If there is one individual who procrastinates on daily tasks it will affect the rest of the team.
If there is one individual who procrastinates on daily tasks it will affect the rest of the team.
The leadership must establish the reason behind procrastination.
Often it is individuals who are either overloaded with work or incompetent with the task.
It also reflects on the failure of the coaching and training process within the organization.
Complacency
Everybody suffers from complacency somewhere in their career and it normally happens when things run smoothly and a sense of life goal completion is reached.
This is where employee engagement plays a big role in ineffective leadership.
The workplace operates as a team and it doesn't mean that if one person achieves his life goals and can afford to slow down the others are on the same level.
Micro-Management
Productivity comes to a standstill when micro-management comes into play. Employees lose their sense of importance and the skills to innovate.
This is also an indication that there is something very wrong with the organization's leadership and work culture.
Instead of being productive employees wait for most of the time for instruction before reacting and will also complete tasks only for the satisfaction of their management leaving out the importance of the organization.
Often these types of managers are easier to read and their expectations very low so it is easier to wait and see than to actually be productive.
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