An interesting article in London Loves Business by Sarah Dunsby caught my eye last week. It suggested that according to BrightHR British workers should work lazier.
Taken at face value I am not sure that I agree with the statement as I have become very familiar with foreign competitors working even harder to obtain business but the article makes some interesting points.
It makes four suggestions to ease the burden of work:-
Always ask yourself why? This refers to questioning the need for a task.
Be prepared to say no – thus focussing on the really important tasks as opposed to those that add very little value.
Give yourself a break – a healthy suggestion enabling one to open one’s mind to new things and perhaps more creative thinking.
Stop trying to be a hero – in order to ease workload for you and your team.
These are my summaries so apologies if they are not precisely what the article stated.
All four suggestions have merit in my humble view but excuse me for banging on, yet again, about the need for good sound business processes.
In designing processes the why question is one of the first that is addressed. It is followed shortly by assessing the priorities of the business.
Part of a business being process driven is the measurement around the processes and if that part is handled skilfully and is accompanied by an on-going review process then that should ensure that suitable time for research and creative thinking are catered for and there is no room for the being a hero scenario as there is no “i” in team.
Please notice that I avoided the awful “blue sky thinking” phrase but mucked it up with the “i” in team clause – apologies again.
If you are really uncertain about how to make a business process driven by all means contact us because we can most certainly help.
The beauty of making a business process driven is that it ensures continuity of the business without having to be critically dependent on individuals and it increases job satisfaction making working life so much more pleasant.