Can Short Summer Hours Increase Productivity?

Posted by Lorraine Arams

What do you think:  Can short summer hours increase productivity?

In my opinion, absolutely!  Why?  Because it gives people something to look forward to and the summer is a great time for people to get outdoors, enjoy the health impacts of more activity and socializing.  There is no question that summer is an ideal time to work less and enjoy more of life!  And for parents, it would give them more time to spend with their children.  Too, people, in general, slow down in the summer – the heat does have an impact on the ability of people to function and to think even in air-conditioned spaces. Therefore, even though people are showing up for their eight-hour day, their productivity is generally lower.

Let’s say a company had “summer hours” . To be fair to the company, there would, of course,  either be an adjustment in the number of hours worked somewhere along the line perhaps in the Winter months when the company is operating at peak levels or a deduction in salary.  With today’s technology, it’s not so difficult to track people’s time.  It would become company policy.  As long as suppliers and clients were informed of the summer hours, there would likely be no issue there either.  Yes, I know, some companies’ busy time is the summer, however, shorter hours would likely help here or alternative work hours to battle the effects of heat.

This is one way that companies can add flexibility to their environments without affecting the bottom line.  And a way for companies to get employees “recharged” for the busiest periods.  People always feel better when they have the time to spend with their friends and family, relax, and “reset”.

How does this affect people’s health in other ways? Heat has detrimental effects on the body which can affect a person’s efficiency.  Effects on the workplace can also include:

  • aggressive behavior towards co-workers causing more conflict
  • lower levels of patience affects the ability to deal with small problems and take the time to properly complete tasks
  • people feeling more burdened by work as people feel more listless and tired in heat

Air conditioners are not the panacea either.  They can:

  • aggravate chronic conditions such as arthritis and neuritis
  • cause sinus trouble
  • increase susceptibility to colds, flue and other minor ailments
  • stress is caused by being forced to go from a boiling hot environment into an air conditioned one – they are not able to cope with hot summer temperatures

Based on these effects on people’s health alone, companies would be wise to adopt shorter summer hours – there is no question that any one of these factors affects productivity.

Can short summer hours increase productivity?  Absolutely! If we consider the effects of summer heat has on people, that alone is enough to warrant an adjustment in hours.

Resources:

http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/phys_agents/heat_health.html

http://coolbandanas.com/heatstress.htm

http://www.essortment.com/all/airconditioning_rvht.htm

Lorraine Arams
More time at the beach?  Play with goals -
complimentary new system for you at

http://www.wizetime.com

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Category Categories: Time Management Tips  |  Tag Tags: efficiency, health effects of air conditioning, how heat affects health, how to increase productivity, productivity, summer hours, workplace  |  Comments 2 Comments

Best Way to Increase Productivity – Play!

Posted by Lorraine Arams

Best Way to Increase Productivity Play!The best way to increase productivity is play – there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever!

The definition of “professional” often is interpreted to mean – deadpan, serious, somber, lifeless, stoic, static, “dressed to the hilt” and should there be a show of emotion in any way, then wow, that’s a real “unprofessional” way to behave. If there is ever the mention of  words such as “fun”, “laughter”, “play” – oh, my – you’d think it was criminal to utter such words.  

Bunk!!! It’s all bunk! And it leads to a lack of productivity.  People become so concerned with being “professional”, they are always looking over their shoulder to gauge the reaction of those around them.

People are not robots, they are people – first and foremost – though you’d never know it in some cases by the way they are treated! All people in a job need to feel feelings other than numb and they need to be able to express those feelings without the fear of being sacked every time they say something “the boss doesn’t like”.

How this obssession with so-called “professional” comes about is through the insecurities of the leadership. These so-called leaders are so insecure in their leadership abilit,  they think they must “control” everything and everyone.   I’m not talking about their degrees here – MBA, PHD or whatever other letters they file behind their names

I’m talking about leadership. A person who is a leader knows full well that you cannot control anything or anyone but you can manage people and the work environment – big difference in attitude!

If a leader is secure in their leadership role, they create an atmosphere where people thrive.   In fact, a real leader encourages opposite points of view, expressions of emotion (with respect for all), opinions (constructive) and sharing.  Such a leader encourages laughter, fun, play, good solid debate, recognition of wonderful events in people’s lives such as their birthday, an anniversary, the birth of a baby. They also understand that humans do not have the same disposition every single day, day after day.  Things happen in people’s lives and sometimes there are outbursts or tears or sadness.  It’s a time for a leader to understand not reprimand.

Scrooge – remember Scrooge – well, he’s alive and well in many businesses nowadays – the worse side of Scrooge – the one we see at the beginning of the movie.

Remember when the spirit takes Scrooge to see a former employer’s place of employment and the joy and happiness Scrooge felt reminiscing about his first job. The boss was always happy and encouraged happiness in the workplace. Was that “unprofessional”? And the critics would say, “Yes, but look what happened in the end”. What happened in the end was unscrupulous business practices by certain individuals – don’t mistake that with success in the workplace on a human level – the businessman was highly successful with lots of employees before being ravaged by the “vultures”.

Think about the end of Scrooge’s story and how happy we all feel with how he treats Bob Crachet with dignity and a smile (oh, yes, and the raise). Think how good that makes everyone feel! That’s why we watch that movie year after year and it remains a classic – Scrooge continued to be a successful businessman after his transformation and yet gained the most important thing of all – admiration and connection with humanity! A soul!

The definition of success in business should include both components – making profits and having a soul! The reduction in stress levels and waste of time would be enormous!

There is much to be learned from Scrooge.

I can tell you from experience, that increasing productivity in the workplace means to engage and engage means getting rid of words in the work environment such as “professional”, “unprofessional”, “insubordination”, “obey”, “do as I say”, “I’m the boss here and I give the orders”, “I’m the manager and I know everything there is to know about this place”, “Don’t raise your voice at me. I’m the boss”, “Who are you to give suggestions” and….. so on.

Instead, add in words such as:

  • “Thank you. That’s a great suggestion”. Let’s talk about it”
  • “We have a different point of view. Let’s debate the pros and cons of each one.”
  • “Thank you”
  •  ”We each have a job to do and we’re all in it together – if we succeed working together, we get to keep our jobs.”
  • “It’s okay to get passionate about your point of view – I get it – I understand we raise our voices when we get excited; it’s okay”
  • “Let’s respect and honor each other as human beings first”
  •  ”Let’s work together”,
  •  ”Congratulations on your new baby – got you a little something and we’ll celebrate this afternoon”,
  • “Happy Birthday – some flowers for you, a card signed by everyone and we’ll have cake with coffee break”,
  • “I may be the boss but it’s only a job description just like yours. Let’s talk and solve these problems together”.

Wouldn’t the workplace be a different place and maybe the 80% of people who do not feel passionate about their jobs would gain pride and joy in their work and workplace. Imagine, spending 8 or more hours every day, 5 days a week, year after year after year – not being passionate about where you are and what you do!   Can you imagine if everyone would show up ready to play at making the business a success!  How would that change the way people see their role?  After all, that’s what business is – a game – try this strategy and that strategy and yet another – to win!

People are more productive when they feel appreciated, listened to, involved and they are afforded the dignity of their being.  And, as humans, productivity goes up when people are happy, when they know they are supported and they feel joy – when they can play!  Play in the workplace is multi-dimensional – as a leader, do you have enough savvy to pull it off?

Lorraine Arams, Operations Consultant
Achieve your goals with a new twist on goal setting
at http://www.wizetime.com
 

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Category Categories: Time Management Tips  |  Tag Tags: management, play, productivity, professional, time, time management, unprofessional, work  |  Comments 1 Comment

Does multi-tasking really save you time and energy? Is it sustainable?

Posted by Lorraine Arams

Does multi tasking really save you time and energy? Is it sustainable? Tweet This Post

Category Categories: Time Management - Job  |  Tag Tags: effective, efficient, energy, focus, focusing, multi-tasking, multitasking, productivity, save energy, save time, sustainable, time, time management  |  Comments No Comments

Are Managers Hard of Hearing?

Posted by Lorraine Arams

Are Managers Hard of Hearing?DO – stop talking about it! Just get the job done!

How many times does Tom Peters have to say it? 

Are managers hard of hearing?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UyvJgOCS1w[/youtube]

I was amazed to see a video on YouTube with Tom Peters still preaching the same message, ‘Don’t talk about it – do it’.  And here we are decades later after Tom Peters first started delivering that message still on the same track of the same record!  What is it about managers who have learned that meetings are the be all and end all?  How is that efficient?  How is it cost effective?  Where are the economics?

In the health industry, it was meetings from morning til night.  I was drained.  I had never ever been in an environment with so many meetings to accomplish so little.  And yet people continued to meet day after day, week after week.  What a waste of valuable time and what a waste of the taxpayers’ money!   Yes, of course it is necessary to have some meetings but meetings on purpose for information, to address a problem, to find a solution or whatever but . . . there is no necessity to be in meetings day in and day out.  When does the managing part of the management job get done?  Yes, I know, that’s the hard part!

Imagine how much it costs to have a boardroom full of managers sitting around meeting and accomplishing nothing except scheduling more meetings – the cost is astronomical!  It was a habit in the health industry as it was in government and big corporations  - nothing more.  They truly believed that’s “how business is conducted”!  Of course, there’s a status symbol attached to it too – if you’re in meetings all day, you must be important!  Not.   

Let’s simplify this notion: 

Imagine if a farmer said to his/her family, “It’s time to plant the seeds but let’s talk about it first”.  Because of the numerous meetings, the seeds are planted late or not at all.  Where do you think we would get our food from?  Absurd to think about it, isn’t it because we expect the farmer to know his/her business, get the crop planted on time for maturity during the growing season.  Yet, we accept the notion of late planting or not planting at all in boardrooms – odd, isn’t it?

You don’t have to believe me – there’s a guru who knows the subject much better than I could ever.  I believed in what Tom Peters had to say when I first read his books.   I believe that, today, more than ever, his message must sink in especially in North America where we have seen a lot of shenanigans at the top but little in the way of productivity – a few getting extremely wealthy while thousands are losing their jobs!   Could you expect anything else when people are meeting just to meet – eventually, like little kids in an unsupervised classroom, they’ll eventually get into trouble out of sheer boredom – much more exciting to plot than to actually do work! 

Go, Tom Peters, go!  One day the message will get through . . . . we hope!

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Category Categories: Time Management - Business  |  Tag Tags: business, COSTS, do it, getting it done, management, managers, money, productivity, time management, Tom Peters  |  Comments 1 Comment