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Rupert Denton

Is productivity in decline? Or does it just look different these days?

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I have a real interest in topics like Quiet Quitting and the Great Resignation and the, sort of, re-envisioning of work - particularly for people in the knowledge economy. I personally love the idea of flexible and remote work. Even though I prefer working from my office with my colleagues, I think knowing that I have control over calibrating my life/work is empowering. I read this article with great interest: https://www.washingtonpost.com/b... Some of it really resonated with me in thinking about what's gained and what is lost in the transition to remote work. I particularly agreed with this insight: “There’s a lot of productivity that comes from people interacting with each other, not just in a formal meeting but in the hallway, around the water cooler,” Cohen said. “That’s extremely hard to measure, but it’s a really important factor." Anyway, I wonder if employers will get cold feet looking at articles like this and try and reign things in and compel a return to the office write large. I find the rise of surveillance technology in the workplace really troubling - I think that is just a recipe for resent and toxicity. Anyway! Interested in getting a discussion going on this. I wonder if productivity is truly in decline or perhaps it is just harder to understand these days.

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Jade Mackenzie
Hi Rupert 👋🏽 I'm really interested in these topics too. I'd imagine the perceived lull in productivity could be a bit of a COVID-hangover and due to mass-scale burn-out following the pandemic. It's clear that a lot of people have reevaluated and reshuffled their priorities in the last few years and, as a result, curbed their ambition slightly. In the businesses I've been working in over the last couple of years, I can't say I've seen productivity decline, but I've definitely seen workloads re-jigged to become more manageable and fair (to support employee wellbeing and better work / life balance), and also a narrowing of focus - so less 'busy-work' and more focus on really high impact goals & initiatives instead.
Rupert Denton
@jade_mack Hey! I totally agree - I think there was also something of a sugar high during the pandemic where people actually worked more as they figured out how to balance things. The point you make about "less busy-work" is so interesting to me. The article talks about this term "productivity paranoia" where employers get freaked out about whether or not their employees are being productive - the irony is this actually just has lose lose results. I quite liked this quote: “I promise you, no CEO has ever said they’d prefer activity over results,” Richards said. “The only thing productivity paranoia delivers is a lot of activity.” I'm curious, in your experience are employers generally comfortable with people "rejigging" etc. because it would look different from the norm of the last x decades, right?
Jade Mackenzie
@rupert_denton the more progressive one's are :) the war for talent is still very real so for wise employers, this re-jigging is as much a retention strategy, as it is an employee engagement and wellbeing initiative.
Jade Mackenzie
Another thought on this - "proximity bias" describes how people in positions of power tend to treat workers who are physically closer to them more favourably, and stems from the antiquated assumption that those who work remotely are less productive than those who work from the office. .....so, I wonder if productivity is truly in decline, or whether proximity bias could be at play with so many people now choosing to work remotely?
Rupert Denton
@jade_mack that's a super interesting point and one I hadn't considered. I think if you start remotely as well you are probably particularly vulnerable to this bias - in many ways you're completely abstracted.
Shawn Deaker
Awesome piece Rupert. I live and breathe flexible and remote working in the tech sector. It is crucial for my lifestyle, living on a commercial flower farm. However, I miss the office and IRL interactions but make sure I take regular trips to hang out with my colleagues. It's a fine balance but it works and I enjoy it. I don't find that it affects my productivity so much. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work remotely. In reality, it is a productivity hit being remote from your team, there is no doubting it. But it can work with a bit of patience and good communication. I feel productivity loss is a basic reality of the complex world we live in today and especially the state of the tech and, specifically, the software development industry. There is a level of maturity and consumer demand in this industry that is significantly stretching what we can do and achieve as software developers. Our industry is relatively young, this is a coming of age, and we need to roll with the punches. There is no magic bullet, we will all evolve and develop our work practices as times change. Productivity is hit simply because we are dealing with more complexity than ever before. There is also the maturity of our industry, many consumers rely heavily on software written in the 80s and 90s and that is simply unsustainable. We are trying to fix, maintain or upgrade these 40-year-old platforms while keeping them running! I always think of a mechanic sitting in the engine bay of a car trying to fix it while it is hurtling down a motorway at 65Mph in heavy traffic. Let's embrace that challenge! Good communication, collaboration, documentation and flexible/remote working are small but powerful steps to stem the tide of productivity loss. A good friend once told me, you cannot eat an elephant with one bite. It's a gross image, but very apt. Small, incremental change is the only way forward.