It’s Time To Resist Faux Productivity
By Lisa Bodell for Forbes
According to workplace analytics company Visier Inc., around 43% of workers admit to spending more than 10 hours a week trying to “look productive” instead of focusing their time on valuable tasks. Performative activities range from responding immediately to non-urgent emails; attending non-essential meetings; and conducting unnecessary research for projects.
Since the shift to WFH in 2020, productivity theatre has become a growing issue. As a CEO and advocate for valuable work — got a book and TED talk on the subject — I‘ve helped clients like Novartis, Fidelity and Google shift away from performative spin cycles.
To address this issue with your teams, gather everyone for a session around the topic of valuable work. On a virtual or physical whiteboard, draw a line down the center and divide it into two columns. For the left side of the board, ask people to identify behaviors or activities that could be classified as attempts to “seem busy” or “look productive.”
If you’re met with radio silence, offer up an example like “spending excessive time on admin tasks” or “regularly sending late-night and weekend emails.” Rather than calling out specific people or teams, encourage participants to focus on naming as many performative behaviors as possible.