Gr8 Work

                                                                  

Architectural firm discovers secret of building a great culture

“We expected a riot even an uprising”: the manager of a US architectural company after she decided to ban the use of cell-phones in her office between coffee breaks. The company had experienced the now common phenomenon of staff emailing each other at the next desk, or even the same desk:  however the outbreak of text messaging caused concern for productivity in the office. A check on output showed a decline in expected billing. The suspected cause: texting!  With trepidation the company introduced the ban. They expected not only disparaging text messages to management but also strident objection. To their surprise, after some initial mutterings, staff accepted the restriction and, wonders of wonders, actually got on with their work: productivity soared.  Indeed a U.S. TV news

programme found that staff members were positively enthused by the new regime. Said one staffer: “For the first time I actually finished the day having achieved something—without interruption.”  Others echoed the sentiment.

   It seems that far from creating an uprising the company created an upsurge—in productivity.  Researchers into motivation and emotional satisfaction are not surprised by the outcomes.  Dr Gloria Mark from the University of California says that many employees can spend as little as eleven minutes on a project before being interrupted. All this, while studies show that the major motivation in the work place at the end of a ‘good day’ is achievement or work progress. Psychologist Frederick Herzberg (in 1959) identified this clearly; a major survey of work-teams in 2011 also confirmed this often ignored principle. Hardly flavour of the month! Steel baron Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919): “A whole clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve, Achieve!” By banning text messages, management were not only hitting their own productivity targets but also, unwittingly, a major job satisfaction index for their teams.  Frederick and Andrew would have approved.