Productivity in collaboration


Making collaboration truly productive


OECD figures show that UK employees work an annual average of 1538 hours, slightly more than France at 1520 hours and quite a bit more that Germany at 1363 hours. Productivity as real gross domes- tic product (GDP) per hour worked. The advent of agile working and collaborative technology should see productivity from each of these hours worked increase, but it hasn’t. Why not?


Underline the societal and personal advantages to the employee It


is no exaggeration to say


that introducing agile working depends on fostering a col- laborative mindset throughout the organisation. Entrenched attitudes of management can be a barrier to introducing ag- ile working, so getting senior business leaders on board is vital. Implementing new agile working practices is not easy, but the benefits of a more ag-


The market for collaborative solutions is becoming increasingly sophisticated as employers assess the technology in terms of its contribution to productivity. The UK ONS reports that labour pro- ductivity for Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2019, as measured by output per hour, decreased by 0.2% compared with the same quarter in the previous year – not massive, but surely the trend should be going the other way? Interestingly, the 0.2% decrease in output per hour was driven by growth in hours of 2% being greater than growth in added value of 1.8%, which means we are all working longer for less. With Brexit in the offing, political and economic commentators argue that any downturn is temporary, and the overall trend supports the expansion of agile working.


Emphasise the advantages for corporate culture and responsibilities


As the cynics amongst us see company office space contract- ing in favour of home working and hot-desking, it is easy to assume that the benefits to the company bottom line trump any consideration of work-life balance. But cynicism aside, there is no denying that there is a groundswell of support for non-traditional working ptay- cices. Work has become more focused on what it should have always been about: output, rather than office presence or number of hours put in. Deloitte Digital’s Stephen Gar-


force,” he said,Garvey says that agile working is particular- ly important to him as he and his family live in Mayo, but he works in Deloitte’s Dublin of- fice. “Using new technologies and flexible ways of working, I can actually work remotely a couple of days a week,” he said. “When I need to, I can come up here and be meeting [colleagues and clients] face to face and in person.” He added that while a big part of agile working is about being flexible, it is also about behaving dif- ferently. “It’s transformational


tion from many different back- grounds, from many different cultures, with a diverse range of skills,” she said. “I really think the diverse nature of our teams leads to the best for our clients.” Add to this the overall reduction in a company’s carbon footprint that comes from swapping out air and car travel for video com- munication has an immediate social benefit. Sustainability also


requires engaging with


employees, investors, the com- munity, government, customers and suppliers. sustainability


that some 66% of homeworkers are male – counter to the per- ceived wisdom. Accepting that 63% of the overall total that work from home are self-em- ployed. There is a net increase in homeworkers who are not self-employed with some 1.4 m who identify as homework- ers but who do not appear to be self-employed or to have an employer. We suspect that


as people “just check” their emails or make one more call. Lack of management oversight is often cited as a reason why employers resisted their em- ployees’ calls for homework- ing. However, with advances in technology, it is now possible to monitor exactly when em- ployees are working and what they are doing.


One of the reasons for intro-


To prevent this fostering resentment it is important that employers promulgate the work life balance and benefits to society at large arguments.


ile organisation – one that per- forms better and has a more engaged workforce – makes it worthwhile,


Perhaps the horn of the di- lemma is working a home – traditionally seen as a perk to be coveted and the answer to the work-life balance conun- drum. Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest 4.2 million people spent at least half their working time at home, representing just over 13% of the total workforce. The stats show this is up from 11.1% a growth of two percent- age points in ten years is hard- ly meteoric but does it tell the whole story? We suspect not, because fur- ther analysis of the data shows


these are workers enjoying ben- efits of home working, such as improved morale, reduced stress levels, greater efficiency and productivity, lower travel costs and infrastructure sav- ings for the employer who are ‘unofficially


agile’ and there-


fore need a collaborative solu- tion that brings them into the corporate network.


While everyone with a smart mobile device can work on the move or in any location these days, is that a good thing? It has been suggested that home working can actually cause stress for some people as the blurring of the lines between home and work leads to an “always on” culture with work seeping into quality family time


ducing agile working is usually to save costs on overheads – BT reportedly saves millions of pounds a year through home- working. To prevent this foster- ing resentment it is important that employers promulgate the work life balance and benefits to society at large arguments, Otherwise, the lack of contact can lead to a reduction in staff commitment and difficulties with team integration and the reduction in “water-cool- er” conversations has been blamed for reducing company innovation. Instant messaging, conference calls with shared screens and video conferenc- ing can help staff can keep in touch with colleagues and feel connected.


Make solutions more appeal right across the workplace Agile working supports a variety of team collaboration environments. [photograph: Ascentae]


vey said, in Silicon Republic, that agile working is about flexibility in how and when you deliver a project, but it’s also about having the tools to offer this flexibility. “This should ac- tually result in benefits such as greater employee productivity and a more motivated work-


and that’s what Deloitte brings to our clients,” he said. As well as agile working, De- loitte also has a diverse work- force, which technology con- sulting partner Ita Langton said is the best thing about the company. “We have a diverse range of people in our organisa-


is all about honest disclosure, measuring, mitigating and communicating. It requires a holistic approach and systems thinking.


Rolling out an agile working programme often required rec- onciling the needs of the busi- ness with those of the workforce and working out how agility can help to achieve a workable bal- ance. By understanding what employees value and working with them to develop agile practices and technological changes that the intended us- ers will adopt.


The advice here is to work from the bottom up. In some cases


small changes to agile working can have a big impact – intro- ducing a new opening hours to meet increased demand, for example. While gaining the full benefits will require a larger change there is little point in falling at the first hurdle. A further recommendation is to phase in developments. When developing an agile business model, where possible take one step at a time – usually a single operation or business unit rath-


er than across the whole organ- isation. When extending agile working practices there will al- ways be specific requirements that need to be addressed; one size does not fit all.


P8 AV News September 2019


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