Distractions are a serious issue in today's workplace. We have incredible technology tools that enable us to accomplish so much, yet they are constantly competing for and intruding on our attention. You are not alone if you believe that technology is preventing you from achieving true depth of thinking – and completing the things that we must complete.
This is a concern for both companies and employees. Employers want their employees to be able to do their best job, and employees want to do their best work for their firm since it's the fastest way to personal success.
Some businesses have turned to workplace surveillance employing technology to monitor communications, work patterns, and see what their workers are up to in order to deal with the problem of distractions. Webcams are also used by some firms to monitor how long employees spend at their desks.
One issue leads to another.
Although this is done with the best of intentions (to ensure that people deliver), the negative consequences far outweigh the benefits. Monitoring in the workplace is an attempt to create social pressure — if we believe we are being observed, we are more likely to act in the way we believe is appropriate. When people are seen, they tend to act in ways that conform to their perceptions of what other people expect of them.
This gives companies access to facts and numbers about their employees' work and allows them to engage conversations based on that data in a data-driven world. However, the issue with both of these approaches is that they are ultimately ruled by fear.
Making people dread the bad repercussions of not doing something may appear to be a quick fix and a straightforward path to success, but the long-term implications are so devastating.
Surveillance is incongruent.
When we are fearful, we have a hormonal and physiological reaction that interferes with the thoughts and mental processes that allow us to perform at our best.
Three crucial components contribute to an employee's success in the knowledge-based economy:
· Problem-solving and creativity: the ability to think through problems and come up with answers.
· Emotional intelligence is the capacity to collaborate and communicate effectively with others.
· Learning aptitude: the ability to absorb new information, tools, and approaches.
When we are terrified, our biology changes and we activate our fight or flight reaction. When this happens, all of the brain's skills – creativity, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and learning ability – turn off.
As a result, an employer that keeps a close eye on their staff in order to get the most out of them is really hindering them from doing their best work. They will, without a doubt, be physically present. They may be seated in front of their computers, but it does not imply that they are producing high-quality work.
Trust will empower you.
What we truly want to accomplish is ensure that people are free of distractions so that they can concentrate and think deeply. As a result, we can not only overcome the problem of distraction, but also construct an antidote to the anxiety of being watched all of the time.
Trust is a sense of security based on the assumption that you will be given the benefit of the doubt. Our mental capacities for creativity and problem solving, emotional intelligence, and learning ability can all be at their peak when we feel trusted and respected.
People who are observed at work are more anxious, less creative, less likely to be engaged in their jobs, and more likely to leave, according to study after study.
The long-term damaging effects of workers experiencing dread in the workplace are that corporate performance will suffer. However, if we can build trust, corporate performance will improve over time. It's known as psychological safety, and it's an important part of what makes a company successful.
Not fear, but freedom
And this is when Freedom enters the picture. Freedom is a tool that permits individuals to be free of distractions – not the CEO, not the management, not the supervisor – but the individual. By giving your team Freedom, you are allowing them to make their own decisions. They have the ability to detach themselves from the various distractions that vie for their attention. The goal of Freedom is not to control what your employees do, but to equip them with the skills they need to make the best decisions possible — not just for the company, but for themselves as well. People will choose to produce their best work when the option is placed squarely in their hands – and it is also the simpler option!
Freedom is a workplace solution that allows employees to be free of distractions while still feeling trusted and empowered by their employers to do so. Freedom is also extremely adaptable, making it ideal for today's hybrid workplace. It can, for example, be customized for people who work from home but have different duties and timetables than they do in the office.
Employees can also continue to work in their chosen ways on days when they are in the office. Because Freedom allows for personalization, your staff may simply adjust it to their own working routines.
Finally, Freedom is still answerable. There's still information beneath it. Individuals can track their working patterns and evaluate how much freedom they have discovered, and this can also be a good approach to start dialogues between managers and staff.
Freedom is a tool for avoiding distractions, but it also helps you to establish the firm foundations of any successful business: trust and engagement.
Give your team Freedom to do their best work by giving them the freedom and flexibility they require.