I magine a typical Tuesday afternoon at work. As you work to cross an important item off your to-do list, a member of your team knocks on your office door to ask a question. Ten minutes later, just as you are getting into the flow of the task again, another colleague pings you on Teams to give you an update on a joint project. Just five minutes after that, the next knock happens already – leaving you wondering when you’ll ever actually get to work toward crossing off your goal from your list.

This kind of scenario may be all too familiar. The modern work environment is full of interruptions that impede progress towards individual goals, causing feelings of lost productivity and frustration – maybe even with well-meaning team members. But while team members can contribute to these interruptions, they also help a person’s productivity toward their own goals by providing feedback, helping resolve roadblocks, and offering morale boosts.

A team of UZH researchers – including Alexander Lill, André Meyer, and Prof. Thomas Fritz from the Department of Informatics and Prof. Lauren Howe from the Department of Business Administration, along with Prof. Gail Murphy from the University of British Columbia – explored how mindsets can be shifted to encourage team members to perceive their team as supporting individual productivity. In a study with software development teams at a multinational company, participants were asked to report their feelings of productivity each day. Then, they began a reflection exercise that prompted participants to consider how their team contributes to their productivity by answering the question “How does your team help you to be productive?” in the daily surveys.

This exercise related to 1.7% higher perceptions of daily productivity on average, with participants reporting up to an 8.8% boost. Participants reported that this reflection led them to be more aware of what everyone is doing for the team, and they began to view their efforts to help the team as productive. However, results depended on initial team cohesion. For teams with high initial cohesion, the exercise further strengthened positive team feelings and productivity. But in teams with low cohesion, the exercise backfired, potentially undermining both cohesion and productivity.

The research shows how workers can rethink productivity to increasingly recognize the role that other people, like team members, play in helping them to be productive at their jobs. Productivity is not a solo act, but a multiplayer game.

Read the whole study.

Text: Lauren Howe

Source: Oec. Magazine issue #20