All those extra hours at work are bad for business !
In yesterday’s entry, we questioned the business value of all the extra time that executives and senior managers are devoting to their jobs. The USA Today article reports that this excessive work is becoming an additive behavior to be treated as any other addition. In this case, we might reasonably expect that, unlike other additions, there is actually an upside. That upside would be a productivity gain for our businesses, right? It is our opinion that this gain does not take place for the following reasons:
1. The vast majority of the extra work is, by its very nature, non productive. Most of it is spent in meetings, phone calls, email exchanges, and conference calls – all of which are only informational in nature. They are dominated by talk, information exchange, and a fair amount of ranting and raving. The vast majority of this “work” really does not move the business forward at all and it wastes an incredible amount of time that could be spent on productive work. Don’t believe it? Step back and analyze your own work day. How much of it was spent on calls and in meetings. Now, how much real impact did they have on the business? What tangible, measurable results (higher revenue, lower expense, and better customer satisfaction) came from them?
2. The incidence of non productive informational exchange behavior is escalating at a rapid rate. Managers copy many more people on emails and invite many more people to meetings than are needed. Why? There are 2 main reasons. First, because they can. Technology makes it easy to “cc the world”. Second, there is a growing CYA attitude. Managers are becoming more and more afraid of failure and making even the smallest perceived mistake. They feel if they include a wide circle of associates on their emails and meetings, they can spread their own accountability among all of them. This is a fallacy that we will discuss in a future entry.
3. There is a tipping point when longer hours actually become counter productive. Humans can work hard and stay productive for 40 to 45 hours on a consistent basis week after week. They can crank that up to 50 plus hours for brief periods of time. But usually productivity will begin to drop after just one or two 60 hour weeks. Trying to work more than 45 hours week after week quickly leads to a drop in productivity. The really interesting aspect of this productivity drop is that it is across all of the worked hours. EXECUTIVES ARE FOOLING THEMSLEVES IF THEY THINK THAT MORE HOURS MEANS BETTER AND MORE OUTPUT.
4. People have workaholic behaviors often see their work habit as a badge of honor. They love to talk about it, brag about it, and, yes, COMPLAIN about it. They often appear “rushed”, cancel meetings, and entertain interruptions. They fancy themselves as excellent multi taskers. But in reality, all these actions and behaviors are key examples of non productive behavior. They disrupt the productivity of both the executive and those who must work with them. They exhibit poor leadership by sending the wrong message (“Something else” on my schedule is more important than you) which shows a clear disrespect for their staff and peers who are affected by it. In short, they are damaging not only their own productivity, but that of the rest of the organization. And that is BAD BUSINESS.
Getting the work done in fewer hours, possibly even 40 hours a week, and having the business still deliver optimum performance is possible! In fact, we think that an executive team that works effectively for 40 hours will outperform a team that works a 60 hour week that is riddled with non productive behavior. Oakley Advisors executive coaches can show the way to shorter, more productive work weeks. Executives and managers will be happier and the business will perform better. We cannot think of a better winning combination than that.
Jerry Kleinhaus
Oakley Advisors
Certified Executive Coaching
Cincinnati, Ohio
