Transparency and openness in the workplace create a better environment for productivity

A new survey by Deloitte shows that transparency and openness by the leadership of a company help foster a more engaging and productive workplace. Furthermore, the "Deloitte 2008 Ethics & Workplace" survey also shows that these traits lead to a more ethical workplace.

The background for the survey is that we live in a world where flexibility in terms of career paths and how we choose to spend our time are the most important factors for many employees and managers. Organisations must be creative when it comes to allowing individuals the flexibility in terms of working habits and being able to "customise" their career paths. The survey also showed that one of the key factors in creating an engaging and productive workplace was for the employees to be able to better balance work schedules and personal priorities.

The main findings of the survey can be summarised as follows:

• 72% of respondents agreed that openness by leadership about why they need to take time off will lead to a more engaging and productive workplace
• 84% said that openness by leadership would lead to a more ethical organisation, and 68% said it would lead to a more values-based organisation
• 81% take advantage of customised work arrangements, whereas 74% agreed that they would be more productive and engaged at work if they were able to better balance their work schedules and personal priorities.

Perhaps the most worrying thing is that although 75% of respondents feel that overall most employees are treated equally when it comes to being able to set flexible work options, 50% still feel that the leadership set different standards for themselves.

For the summary of the survey, please go to the press release from Deloitte at the Sun Herald.

Do you agree with these findings? Are there other things in the behaviour of leadership that would have a greater impact on your personal productivity and work engagement? Please feel free to comment.

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Improving communication to allow for better decision-making

You probably know the feeling… Mr. Jones in the production department asks you whether or not you have read his email. In order to cover your bases you answer in the affirmative and are then floored by the follow-up question: “So what should we do?”

Chances are that you feel like this because the email read more like the abridged works of William Shakespeare than something on which you could (or could be bothered to) act. More likely than not, this is because Jones decided to commit one or more of the “Deadly Sins of Email” – at least they were deadly sins if he ever hoped to get a reply from you…

More likely than not the email:

• Didn’t have an immediately clear and concise “Subject” heading
• Long winded - full of extraneous information of no relevance to the key question(s) to which an answer was needed
• Didn’t specify the question(s) he needed one or more answers to
• Didn’t clarify the importance to his personal goals and to the corporate goals
• Didn’t tell you when he needed an answer by
• Included several subjects
  

How do you avoid this happening? First off, it is great if there is a company or departmental rule regarding issues that need to be answered and even if there isn’t you can improve the overall communication flow of the company by making it clear to people who rely on YOU for decision-making what you require in order to be able to help them.

Personally, I’ve always had, and have communicated the following 8 rules for decision-making to my peers and subordinates:

1. Put the issue in the “Subject” heading
2. Only include ONE ISSUE per email when a decision is required
   
3. Make it clear in the opening two lines of your email that you need an answer to it – and when you need it by
4. Keep it short – no longer than two pages if I were to print it out (if it’s longer you need to summarise it in less than two pages and then attach the rest of the information in a document)
5. Tell me how it relates to your job and our company goals
6. Outline the issue/problem
7. Describe the different scenarios/solutions
8. Recommend the route that you believe is best – and TELL ME WHY

Armed with this information, I can very quickly give people the answer they need from me. If the issue is so complex that it cannot be dealt with in this manner – then get the person to send an email outlining the issue AND requesting a meeting (within a specified time slot) and get them to be very specific, i.e. “I need 10 minutes of your time to discuss this a bit further”. If you have the background information and understand the general gist of the issue you’re not likely to turn down the request for a meeting that will last 10 minutes and will lead to a decision where all parties can move on to implementing the solution(s).

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Handling emails

You would think that something seemingly simple like answering emails would not be a great source for increasing your productivity, but just think about the following:

• How many times a day is your attention diverted away from what you’re doing because an email arrives?
• How much time do you spend every day sorting and deleting junk emails?
• How much time do you spend reading and answering emails every day?
• Do you prioritise emails by importance or do you just try to get everything answered as quickly as possible?
• How large a percentage of the emails you receive from colleagues, clients or business partners are relevant to your company’s, your personal objectives and/or job tasks?

Chances are that you will quickly realise that you are easily wasting away 2 – 3 hours every single day doing things that are completely irrelevant in terms of reaching your goals and aspirations. Does this mean that you’re only doing a 5 – 6 hour working day or does it mean that you end up spending 2 – 3 hours extra in the office in order to do your job? Does this, in turn, mean that you’re one of those stressed out individuals who never has time for his/her friends and family and are always tired because you’re working a 12 hour day? Why not start by dealing with the biggest time waster of all in your daily life… your email?

Over the next few months you will see a number of articles on how better to handle your emails in order to improve productivity, but here are a few quick tips to get you started:

1. Allocate two or three short periods a day (e.g. 15 – 20 minutes each) to read and respond to email – and DON’T let it interrupt you for the rest of the day. Personally, I read my emails at the start of the working day, just after lunch and again as the last thing I do before leaving the office, which leads me onto rule no. 2.
2. Always clear your inbox at the end of the day. A cluttered inbox is like a cluttered desk. It stresses you out and means that you feel behind before even leaving the office. This is a vicious circle that is to be avoided.
3. Use “Folders” to organise your emails
4. Set up rules for handling newsletters so that they automatically go into folders where you can then allocate time to read them on a daily or weekly basis.
5. When scanning your emails quickly determine the IMPORTANCE and URGENCY of each email. If it’s important AND urgent, make sure you respond to it right away.

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