Performance Matters - Digital Experiences - 27

PERFORMANCE MATTERS / PG 27
We're seeing
several benefits,
including:
» Increased adaptiveness (by
planning and adjusting daily).
» Increased value-add (by enabling
focused, happy, and engaged
teams who deliver quality work).
» Decreased cycle time (by matching
tasks to skills daily, reducing meetings,
and minimizing task-switching).
» Increased trust (by creating safety
during uncertainty, which allows teams
to continue without all answers).
» Increased productivity (by
enabling all the above).
Want to achieve and maintain flow for yourself,
your team, and your organization?
In doing this work with our team, we've found the following practices to be essential.
As an individual:
» Set boundaries by communicating work style, work
hours, and needs early and often.
» Set office hours on all your applications and devices.
» Update notification settings to reflect work hours and
communication needs.
» Set at least two uninterrupted hours a day to focus.
» Ask if your attendance is necessary, then decline
meeting invites where possible.
» Set time to check emails and suppress email
notifications outside that window.
Since distractions can suppress innovation and
productivity, it is in everyone's best interest to set healthy
boundaries when working (and when you're NOT working).
When pushback inevitably occurs, Caroline Castrillon of
Forbes notes, " This is a sign that the boundary is
necessary and that it's working effectively...Employees
who are the happiest and most productive are those who
set boundaries. People who set limits gain respect
because they show respect for themselves. "
As a manager:
» Reduce meetings.
» Consolidate communication channels.
» Set clear expectations.
» Give space and lead by example.
» Adopt agile practices.
» Create work agreements.
» Conduct retrospectives.
» Defer to quick, effective communication.
The journey toward better flow isn't just the responsibility
of the individual; the teams they work within also should
expect to support these efforts.
Middle management carries additional burden, according
to Eric Anicich and Jacob Hirsch in the Harvard Business
Review: " By virtue of their structural positions, they are
simultaneously the 'victims and the carriers of change'
within an organization, receiving strategy prescriptions
from their bosses above and having to implement those
strategies with the people who work beneath them. "
CONTINUED on next page
Performance Matters - Digital Experiences

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Performance Matters - Digital Experiences
