Managing Productivity and Collaboration in an Increasingly Technology Driven Workplace
In today’s always-on culture, our constant connectivity to technology, and therefore the workplace, can be overwhelming. I had the opportunity and pleasure of speaking with Camille Preston, Founder & CEO, AIM Leadership LLC, people strategy partner at Blackhorn Ventures, and author of Rewired: How to Work Smarter, Live Better, and Be Purposefully Productive in an Overwired World, and Create More Flow: Igniting Peak Performance in an Overwired World, to discuss productivity and collaboration in the workplace.
Daisy: Camille, you recently authored a Fast Company piece speaking to the importance of work-life balance. What role do you see workplace collaboration playing in an individual’s ability to “reclaim their time?”
Camille: At a foundational level we have to rethink the meaning of “work.” Technology can be amazing. In fact, one of the taglines that led to my first book, Rewired, stemmed from an insight that I wanted to do the work that I love, in places that I love, with the people I enjoy. Technology is enabling people to be able to do this. It is moving workplace cultures towards allowing employees to not only contribute impactful, meaningful work, but to experience a meaningful and fuller life.
What’s often missed in the workplace are humanistic capacities. When organizations do not invest in individual self-awareness, regulation and personal discipline, things can go awry. It is important to change how people think about themselves as “vehicles” to their own effectiveness, efficiencies and impact. At the end of the day, engagement cannot be labeled as a corporate responsibility — if people don’t want to engage, they are not going to. Corporate collaboration is an interaction with the right technology, boundaries, relationships and ways of positioning people to engage.
Daisy: I completely agree with you. Technology is great because it provides flexibility. I can keep in contact and make a flexible schedule, but we need to set up some boundaries to make sure we have work/life balance and are still connected with family and friends. Businesses must realize that their employees need that too. This relates directly with your thoughts on how companies need to look carefully at how over-engagement can lead to disengagement and, ultimately, employee burn out.
Camille: There’s another risk factor when people become so engaged on the work front: They become unrounded and end up facing problems in all areas of their lives.
Daisy: What are your thoughts on workplace governance? To what extent should managers implement regulations on employee communication?
Camille: My training as a psychologist has made me very perceptive to my environments, so when I enter into a system as a coach, trainer or business consultant, I can feel below the surface. When I see trust is low, what usually follows is an increase in bureaucracy, governance, structure and regulations. While I’m cautious of making broad generalizations, the individuals who put these types of structures in place are often uncomfortable with the nuance and difficult conversations that position people for success. So, rather than have these difficult conversations, they put up limitations. It’s an interesting and careful dance.
Daisy: How much privacy should be expected? To what extent should managers/companies generally implement regulations around employee communication, including what can or can’t be said?
Camille: As soon as you start legislating, you begin removing the humanization and accountability of the interaction. If you want engaged employees, you have to give them a platform to succeed and engage with their full selves. As I mentioned, it’s much easier to legislate policy than to have difficult conversations, and we are starting to see a backlash on this.
Daisy: It may be easier to legislate, but it is also difficult to think of all of the possibilities ahead of time, so what ends up happening is that the legislation just gets worse and employees find other places to communicate.
Camille: It’s a lot like parenting. For instance, it is much easier to give your child a binky in the middle of the night, but it does not solve the problem rooted behind their cries and the problem will most likely just get worse. In the workplace, employees need to have the awareness, skills and bandwidth to be disciplined and manage the information they receive in a professional manner.
Daisy: How do you believe Gen Z will impact enterprise collaboration as this generation moves into the workforce?
Camille: I’m very cognizant of the fact that technology has given us many assets and made many things easy. Generation Z is well versed across technology. Again, I am careful to make generalizations, but I’m seeing that what this generation wants and values often creates tension in the organizational system because it’s different. They don’t have the same rules of engagement. However, if Gen Z can be embraced with an open mind, I think all parties will be better off.
What I warn individuals and organizations about is an attitude of “my way or the highway,” which will not position people for long term success. The other variable is accountability; in a digital interaction, there is less accountability and structure. People need to be responsible for how they show up and engage.
Daisy: Gen Z is often referred to as the “always on” generation, with shorter attention spans than millennials. It’s interesting to understand the differences. I’m hoping developing an understanding of these nuances will lead to employees determining how they will successfully work together, versus remaining in their differences.
Camille: That comes back to the interpersonal relationship that is so essential to development and growth.
Daisy: You write a lot on purposeful productivity. Can you define this concept?
Camille: In my second book, Create More Flow, I discuss the idea of being able to purposefully attack something in a thoughtful way. The “Create More Flow” model has five stages, including preparation, personal struggle, release, flow and recovery. Too often, people do not take the time to really prepare for and examine their day before it begins. Everyone is consistently in crisis management, rather than planning. Additionally, workplaces are not set up to allow people to struggle in an intentional way. I help people understand what their optimal work environments look like so that when they go to do heavy lifting, they are prepared. It is critical to have the right environment to create the correct focus and training.
In my first book, I outline my findings showcasing how individuals can only focus with purposeful intensity for 90 minutes at a time. With this in mind, if workplace cultures are set up where employees do not think it’s okay to take a break and/or do not take or plan for periods of rest, it’s a detriment to their focus and success. There’s really a cycle happening. While environments like start-ups are often mocked for their laid-back workplace environments, these are commonly most effective, as individuals are more relaxed and able to focus with intent to accomplish core tasks.
Daisy: I completely agree with this idea of preparation, especially if you are in a role where you’re providing guidance or feedback. If you are not thoughtful in the feedback you’re providing to a team or organization, and are not thinking through what they need and the results you are seeking from this guidance, this can become wasted work.
Daisy: Given purposeful productivity, and what you’ve seen with tools and preparation, where do you see opportunity for growth across the enterprise when you’re marrying “personal productivity” and the tools available?
Camille: Enterprises should be focused on their engagement model. Engagement is not a corporate responsibility; it is not something corporations should be enforcing. In order to see results, leaders must put creativity ahead of reactivity, focusing more on engaging the creative minds of their employees than preemptively reacting to what they may deem as “unproductivity.”
I enjoy working with organizations to rethink engagement and how they position, educate and develop self-awareness of their employees to get them to come back to the table and have a dialogue with their managers. In doing this, employees earn a level of credentials to request autonomy that will deepen their engagement and move management out of bureaucracy to ultimately deepen the level of engagement.
Daisy: Do you feel that the importance of these values of corporations, such as engagement, are irrespective of a generation, or have any relation to specific generations?
Camille: All in all, it’s less about generations and more about individuals — having a growth mindset and self-awareness can set themselves up for success. It is important for organizations to focus on getting their employees into the “flow” stage, which is where we are most alive, impactful and creative. To get people to this stage, we have to identify where their struggle stems from in order for them to begin producing results. What’s important to keep in mind: People learn the most when they are in enough pain and decide it is time for change.
