Thinking FocusThinking Focus
+44 (0) 333 939 8606
hello@thinkingfocus.com
  • Home
  • Philosophy
    • Our Philosophy
    • The Leadership Model
    • The Thinking Model
    • The Actions Model
    • The Results Model
    • Transition
  • Solutions
    • Our Focus Areas
    • Productivity
    • Continuous Improvement
    • Leadership Thinking
    • Culture
    • Enabling Change
    • How we do it
  • Results
    • Results overview
    • Leadership Case Study
    • Productivity Case Study
    • CI Case Study
  • WWYD
  • About us
    • Our Story
    • Meet Ricky
    • Meet Richard
    • Meet Paul
    • Our influences
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
improving workplace productivity

Improving workplace productivity, step 3: The cost of interference

Posted On December 13, 2018 By Ricky Muddimer In Productivity /  

If I told you that you were only performing at 60% of you, would you want to do something about it?

Once you got past the emotional reaction of feeling criticised (“Who is this guy?”, “Who is he to challenge me?”), it is likely you will feel the need to justify yourself. You’ll probably point out how hard you and your team are working and highlight your performance versus your targets and KPIs.

But this is not about targets and KPIs, this is about potential.

It is not my intent to criticise; I am instead challenging the way you see the world. I see it in every client we work with, and it sits at the heart of our Thinking Focus belief statement:

We believe that people, teams and business units underperform, not because they want to, not because they mean to, but because they can’t get out of their own way!

Every day you and your people face challenges and constraints, either self-imposed, real or perceived. Your people face systems and processes designed with the best intent yet which fail to empower them to deliver greatness, forcing compliance and restricting innovation and creativity, all in the name of consistency. Well, guess what: the only consistency is your people consistently underperforming and not reaching their potential!

In over a decade of working with clients across the world, I and my colleagues at Thinking Focus have noticed the startling reality that, when asked, people in all businesses state that ‘interference’ (the stuff that gets in our way) amounts to an average 40%. Yes, 40%! Which means that, if this is true, people are performing at an average of just 60%!

While I accept that this observation is hardly scientific, the consistency in what more than 200 clients have reported to us over all these years is uncanny. Moreover, a CIPD survey suggested the exact same number, give or take 1%. It would seem that our anecdotal findings are actually supported by an external reference point!

So we know there is a problem, now let’s look at what can you do about it.

Here are three things you can do to get started, and they won’t cost you a penny or a huge amount of time:

1. Quantify the size of your problem or opportunity

The key here is not to get to focused on the number, but instead to look for the opportunity. Dig beneath the surface. One obvious thing to do, which is rarely done, is to ask your people what it is that gets in the way of them doing their best work. So ask them:

  • What ‘interference’ do they have to deal with every day? Get them to externalise it but don’t justify, defend or seek to fix it at this point. Your goal is to understand the issues
  • Can you quantify this interference as a percentage? Ask them how much it affects their ability to perform at 100% of their potential
  • Use this as a rudimentary guide, to size your problem/opportunity

So, for example, if they suggest that the ‘interference’ is at 35%, this means that they are performing at 65% of their potential. Ask them what impact a 1%, 2% or 10% shift would have on their performance. Is it worth fixing? If yes, go to step 2.

2. Review the ‘interference’ list

Invite your people to review the list of ‘interference’ and ask them to focus on just three right now; three that could add the greatest value with least effort. In essence, identify the ‘low hanging fruit’ which will eliminate, improve or mitigate the impact of ‘interference’. Then invite volunteers to pitch up and take on the challenge to fix one.

3. Let them go!

Now, support them, provide time and resources, and let them go unlock some potential for you. This is important as you are empowering them to own the problem and fix it. It also means that any long term solution will be owned by them and will likely lead to wider adoption of their solution than any imposed by management.

There are many benefits from adopting this approach, including:

  • There is a cathartic release from sharing ‘interference’
  • Your people feel listened to
  • They feel included in the choice of priorities
  • Your people feel empowered to improve their world
  • Ownership will increase as they go fix it
  • Business performance improves

I am not sure I can see a reason not to, can you?

Tweet
Politics in the workplace: Dealing with sheep, donkeys, foxes and owls
Improving workplace productivity, step 2: How interference affects productivity

Categories

  • Article
  • Bias
  • Blog
  • Change
  • Coaching
  • Confidence
  • Continuous Improvement
  • Creative Thinking
  • Critical Thinking
  • Culture
  • Decision Making
  • Engagement
  • Feedback
  • Flip Book
  • Forbes
  • Goals
  • High Performing Teams
  • Influence
  • Leadership
  • Leading to here
  • Management
  • Metacognition
  • Mindset
  • Motivation
  • Performance Management
  • Podcasts
  • Problem Solving
  • Productivity
  • Psychological Safety
  • Reflection
  • Resilience
  • Sales
  • Sales Mindset
  • Stakeholder Management
  • The question is
  • Trust
  • Video
  • Webinar

Popular Posts

  • What are the practical steps to build a culture? April 23, 2025
  • Building Resilience: Navigating Workplace Stresses and Strains April 15, 2025
  • Why Slowing Down is Essential to Speed Up! April 8, 2025
  • What Can I Do To Build Rapport Quickly? April 3, 2025
  • How can I create trust between teams that don’t get on? March 19, 2025

Archives

  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • June 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
© 2023 Thinking Focus Limited
All rights reserved.

Registered in England. Company Number 10151972
20-22 Wenlock Road, London. N1 7GU    +44 (0)333 939 8606
  • Privacy Policy