I think we can all agree that structure within a company is crucial to its success. But when an organization gets bogged down in managing growth, it’s easy to ignore making a plan for the roles and people you need. A team of talented employees thrown together on a long-term project is not sustainable if their tasks and purpose within the company are not clearly defined. While it will take some time, starting from scratch and clarifying roles and responsibilities within the workplace will lead to increased financial performance, a healthy corporate culture, and an advantage over competitors.
Where Do I Start?
To gain clarity and accountability for who is responsible for which task, you must first identify:
Overlap, confusion, and conflict
What’s falling through the cracks
Over- and under-utilization
Better ways of organizing work
Hang ups, drag, wasted time
Work the current team is not equipped to handle
The most efficient and inexpensive hiring
If this seems like a big task, don’t worry. I broke down the process into just five phases that you can easily implement within your own company.
Phase One: Capture
The preparatory stage focuses on asking your team members to identify the roles and tasks they are responsible for. You are capturing their answers to determine the best way to move forward. This phase prompts employees to ask, “What am I not doing that I want to do?” and “Who do I report to for each task?”. Have workers catalogue their day-to-day tasks for at least a full week. By writing down everyday responsibilities, excess or unnecessary work will reveal itself, as well as tasks outside of the employee’s primary role. PRO TIP: Compare results from Phase One with your most recent job description.
Phase Two: Consolidate
Next, you will consolidate individual results into a single spreadsheet. Clean up assigned roles by reorganizing tasks, deleting repetition, and adjusting the level of abstraction. At this point, considerations should look like: Are any tasks/roles missing? Is there overlap? Who can handle more? Who is handling too much? What roles/tasks would fit better elsewhere? Then, meet with team members as needed to fill in the gaps. Meeting one-on-one with your team members will increase employee satisfaction by addressing problems such as avoiding burnout from too much work or feeling unsatisfied from too little work. PRO TIP: Start with the ideal: if we had limitless resources, who handles x? Work backwards from there.
Organize new tasks and responsibilities under each department for a more efficient workflow.
Phase Three: Cuss & Discuss
This phase is intended to get the feedback you need to finalize the updated roles and responsibilities. Schedule meetings with key people who can help you answer questions that came up in Phase 2, specifically team members who will experience a significant shift in their role moving forward. Additionally, discuss plans with department leaders whose responsibilities and tasks are similar to yours to cut down on overlap. And finally, meet with people above you who need to approve the plan. PRO TIP: Remind employees that roles and tasks are not ‘in a perfect world’ assignments—these are ‘what works for the next quarter/six months.‘
Phase Four: Commit
As you begin to implement the new plan, review these ground rules with your team:
Everyone will have responsibilities they don’t love.
No job is permanent — we will review every six months.
Our goal is everyone doing more of the work they love that falls within their strengths, and less of the work they dislike.
We believe our team is capable, and therefore each member deserves to have a domain they can own rather than a list of unrelated tasks to complete.
At this point, have a full team meeting to catch everyone up to speed. Provide each team member with their own responsibilities agreement to review and sign. PRO TIP: Address any concerns that arise from the full team meeting.
Meet with your team members to get feedback on improving your plan.
Phase Five: Continue
The last phase is an ongoing one. Check in with team members on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to see if the plan is working well. Determine a system of accountability. For example, a person ‘responsible’ for activities should coordinate with the person ‘accountable’ to confirm the frequency of communication for each task (ie once a week, ‘never tell me unless’, etc.). At the six-month review, include an area on the spreadsheet where individuals can add random tasks they took on between the semi-annual reviews. PRO TIP: Confirm with your manager decisions you own and decisions that need input.
Ready to Begin Clarifying Roles and Responsibilities?
I believe in this foundational principle: We are not infinite. We must carefully protect each person’s attention by not sharing info and asking for time on things that don’t need their attention. If you’re ready to make this change a priority, you can download the roles and responsibilities templates for free on the Focuswise website. You can also check out my podcasts, infographics, TED Talk video, and more at focuswise.com/free.
Distraction always comes with a price tag. It may seem small, like a coworker interrupting your work flow to ask you a question. But repeated distractions add up over time, costing you and your company thousands of dollars each year. I give talks to businesses on a regular basis about the dangers of distraction. Today, I’m going to share with you three situations where distraction cost companies more than they bargained for.
Situation #1: Distraction Issues at Startups
Start-up companies have the opportunity to fix distraction issues at their root before they become ingrained in company workflow. A study done of three start-ups found that general office noises (people eating lunch, talking on the phone, walking right by work stations/cubicles) caused distracted employees.
Receiving phone calls during meetings was a major disruption, according to participants. Firstly, the phone distracts everyone when it starts to ring. And second, it pulls the person accepting the call away from their work, making it harder for them to return to their current task after the call.
Another common disruption are notifications from social media. Mature companies struggle with this problem just as much as start-ups! Although some workers have more self-restraint than others, anytime an employee checks a non-important notification, it can quickly lead them down a rabbit hole of lost time and productivity.
Situation #2: Frequent Interruptions for Senior Level Workers
Researcher Edward Sykes studied the effects of interruptions on different levels of employees at a midsize software development company in Ontario, Canada. He found that a senior level worker was interrupted 6 times higher than someone at the associate/staff level. Over the course of an 8-hour work day, a technical lead/senior developer was interrupted over 120 times. These interruptions translated to 71% of their daily activity spent dealing with distractions.
Sykes found a large number of interruptions occurred from colleagues walking up to their coworker’s office space and interrupting them. An open plan office environment was a large contributor to this problem. To address this issue, some employees wore headphones or earbuds to drown out background noise and conversation.
Open floor plans lead to more distractions.
Situation #3: Protecting Speech Privacy for Nursing Office
Employees at the Oregon State Board of Nursing offices in Portland expressed concern over the lack of speech privacy in their office space. Management considered hanging panels from the ceiling to block out noise distractions as much as possible. They decided it wasn’t a practical solution after taking into account the number of cubicles in their 8000-square foot office space.
After some research, the company decided to try out a technological solution: sound masking. Sound masking is the process of introducing ambient noise at the same frequency of human speech to cancel out noise. The audiovisual company Biamp installed their trademarked sound masking system with small speakers hidden in the ceiling tiles throughout the space, covering work stations, corridors, and private offices. Returning employees reported a sizable decrease in distractions, and new employees didn’t notice the masking sound at all.
Looking for More Information?
We took a look at case studies today, but distraction is affecting millions of companies worldwide. In the age of technology, workplace interruptions are becoming accepted as the status quo. Leaders in the workplace need to realize the real cost of distraction to their employees. Our free infographic lists important statistics about distraction that will likely surprise you.
Workers are quitting their jobs at rapid rates. Employees leave because of job dissatisfaction, perceived low worth due to minimal salary increases, and rigid return-to-office plans, among other reasons. As an employer, how do you develop an employee journey map that invests in your workers so they will want to stay?
Let’s think about a model companies use as a common marketing tool: the customer journey map. Customer experience is a top priority using this model, and its main goals are to assess the customer’s needs, exceed their expectations, and develop an ongoing positive relationship with them. The five main steps are awareness, consideration, conversion, user experience/loyalty, and advocacy. A prospective customer is carefully guided through each stage until they become forever loyal to the company. What if a new employee joining a company was treated the same way?*
What Is Employee Journey Mapping?
Similar to the customer journey, an employee journey map progresses through different stages to achieve total employee loyalty and an overall positive experience with the company. HR teams should begin crafting a long-term plan for the employee as soon as the hiring process begins.
Stage 1: Employee’s Discovery
The employee journey starts with your job listing. Potential candidates view the job application and make judgements about the company based on the information given to them. They then conduct subsequent research on the company to determine its remote work flexibility, salary, and values. To attract the best candidates, companies need to put their best foot forward —as publicly as possible. HR leaders should provide straightforward information on the job listing and clearly communicate the company’s vision on their social media channels and website.
Attract top candidates with a compelling job description that emulates employee values.
Stage 2: Employee’s Evaluation
At this stage, potential new hires are deciding whether the company and job position is worth their long-term investment. Throughout the interview process, the prospect is critically observing the company just as much as the company is determining the prospect’s own compatibility and potential. To solidify a good match, the company should show candidates why their values align and be open to addressing the candidate’s pain points.
When we talk about prospective employee pain points, we’re really talking about companies finding ways to offer solutions to a variety of prospective employees’ concerns. These can range anywhere from a negative opinion of applicant screening software, to being seen as an individual (especially within a large company), to a necessity to work from home, and a compelling salary that matches their worth, intelligence, experience, judgment, ingenuity, and contribution.
*P.S. On a personal note, I’ve heard from many employees over the years who grew tired of being viewed as interchangeable commodities, were frustrated by the perceived indifference of their employers, and felt discouraged by their company’s lack of interest in anything they tried to communicate upward. With time to think about it (courtesy of the pandemic), they’ve reset their priorities. So now, anything less than a personalized approach to their future won’t go far enough to encourage millions of Millennials to rededicate themselves, sustain employee engagement, create genuine employee satisfaction, and support the retention levels companies need. Again, you’ll find more on this in my Forbes column (link above).
Here we are, in the midst of the “Great Resignation“– a time when people are quitting their jobs at historic rates. Just in December 2021 alone, 4.3 million Americans resigned from their jobs. Among those resignations, 776,000 came from the business services sector. As someone who works with executives building focused and productive workforces, I find these statistics quite significant, and companies across the country should be concerned.
There are a number of factors behind the mass exodus of the workforce. The pandemic was the initial force, but gradually the reasons for leaving work have started to shift beyond health concerns. Following COVID-19 lockdowns and the shift to working from home, people began to identify or rediscover what really matters to them. This is what the problem ultimately boils down to: employees are resigning in record numbers because employers can’t give them what they want.
Top 5 Reasons People Are Quitting Their Jobs
1. Their employer does not offer remote work options. People are accustomed to working from home. They can work from anywhere: the home office, couch, patio, park, and coffee shop offer variety, and employees can choose where they focus best. Two years ago, just 1 in 67 jobs was remote. Today, it’s 1 in 6. That’s reflected in research that shows 87% of workers want to work from home at least half the time. Plus, employees save money by not having to pay for commuting, parking, business attire, extra childcare, and meals away from home, which ends up being the equivalent of a $4,000 raise.
2. They feel undervalued by their employer. Workers are demanding better salaries and benefits. Employees want to know that their input is welcome in the workplace, their ambitions are taken seriously, and their needs are seen as valid and important. If their paycheck does not reflect the perceived value they add to the company, workers will leave. Employees are placing a growing importance on respect, in addition to a raise.
3. They can afford to be picky. The top 20% of Americans got richer from the pandemic. The bottom 25% of income earners also saw a 50% raise in checking account balances. Government stimulus checks, billions of dollars spent on the economy, and unemployment benefits all helped to keep households afloat, and a lot of them are thriving. Many Americans were in a position to save the extra money or invest it in the stock market. By doing so, workers had the ability to quit unsatisfactory jobs and look for new opportunities instead.
Unsatisfactory feelings about work lead to people quitting their jobs quicker than in the past.
4. They started their own business or side hustle. During initial lockdowns, spending lots of time at home forced people to take up new hobbies in their free time. As a result, people started side hustles with their newfound hobbies. Many Americans then made the leap to converting their side hustles into a full-time businesses. According to the Census Bureau, there was a 24 percent increase in Americans filing for new businesses in 2021.
5. People are re-evaluating what matters. At the end of the day, living through a global pandemic has shifted people’s perspective about what they value most. With COVID-19 deaths approaching a million in the US, family and home have become top priorities for the majority of Americans. Working a flexible, well-paying job that allows employees to spend time with and provide for their families is a big reason people are quitting jobs that don’t support that goal.
How to Retain Your Employees
Companies that decide to empathize with and embrace the evolving needs of a pandemic workforce are the companies that will retain the most employees. Workers are looking to their management to make executive decisions that will benefit the whole of the company, not just the C-level.
A hybrid workplace is critical to employees today. If a leader is opposed to remote work because they think employees are not working unless they are visibly present, those leaders need to revisit the facts. Productivity soared during the pandemic when relatively no one was in the office, no one was physically supervised, and only essential workers commuted to work.
Prioritizing mental health is another reason people are quitting their jobs. If a job is consistently causing burnout and demanding strict office hours, employees are going to pull the plug. People are more focused on their emotional, psychological, and social well-being during the pandemic, and that trend is continuing.
So how can you prevent your own employees from eyeing the exits and have them enjoy their jobs again? First, understand why they’re leaving, and respect that. Then, build some of what they’re leaving for into your company’s culture. Bottom line, people leave for comfort, and stay for culture. Make your culture fit their needs well, and they’re more likely to stay.
For more information on how to enjoy work and avoid burnout, check out my recent TED Talk.
28% of a knowledge worker’s time is consumed by interruptions, at a loss of about 20,000 hours, which is more than $400,000 over the course of a single career. Wow. That’s a lot of wasted time, if you ask me! The greatest sources of interruption at work and home are external. Whether that’s coworkers interrupting our work flow, emails flooding our inbox, interpersonal conflict between coworkers, thoughts about tasks and responsibilities at home, or temptations to look at the “latest greatest thing to change our life,” distractions are always attacking our senses.
But we need to get to the root of the problem. What are the true sources of interruption? We’ve identified five sources and offer suggestions on what to do about it.
1. Attention Theft
An attention theft is someone or something external to you entering your environment without your permission and stealing your attention. My advice: lock them out!
Protocol
Identify thieves and build barriers to prevent their access.
Communicate when you are not available for interruptions.
Reveal what you value by intentionally giving it periods of uninterrupted attention (e.g. mission-critical thought work, crucial conversations, and valued relationships).
Avoid unnecessary meetings.
In order to set boundaries, you have to communicate clearly to your coworkers about levels of access to yourself. Set up “Do Not Disturb” signs outside of your working space so people know when you’re in a focused zone. If advertisements keep popping up on your web browser and stealing your attention, try ad blockers.
On the flip side, make sure you have intentional planning of fun/diversion as a team—make sure everyone knows when it’s okay to be offline! By giving yourself time to rest, your focus will be funneled into the other parts of the day—when you’re working.Your attention is valuable…don’t let someone (or something) steal it!
Stop letting attention thefts happen in your life.
2. Attention Burst
An attention burst is a spontaneous idea unrelated to a task. My advice: get it out!
Protocol
Offload ideas to a scratch pad.
Be sure to schedule times where you get to wander, explore, try things out, and think creatively during your week.
Remain committed to completing the current task.
You’re in a meeting and suddenly you’re thinking about your grocery list or the big upcoming sports game, despite wanting to focus. Our minds wander, and one creative thought begets another. Explore your creativity (sometimes the best ideas come as attention bursts), but don’t let it become a source of interruption. Rein in your focus by giving your attention burst an outlet. If you let the thought go uninterrupted, it will be much harder to get your focus back on track.
3. Attention Avoidance
Attention avoidance is seeking to avoid the perceived pain of the task at hand. My advice: engage the source.
Protocol
Change the narrative.
Work through your emotions or grief, take a walk to encourage “soft fascination,” and get to a better emotional place.
Meet face-to-face with the person who is dominating your emotions that day.
Create your reframing statements.
Break down the task.
Change the space and time you’re in.
Attention avoidance occurs when you are associating a sense of pain, and will do anything possible to avoid the one thing you know has to be done. This might require a change of environment, a mental health break to work through the negative emotions, or getting some physical exercise if you’ve been staring at a computer screen all day. Focus means helping your heart get into it too.
By “change the narrative,” I mean lower the barriers to believing a better story about your task or your day. We are the stories we tell ourselves. We can change these stories by changing the input, moving the location, and identifying and reframing our thoughts. Prepare specific, repeatable, targeted phrases to reframe the work (that can be fun!).
Jot down creative ideas when they come to you instead of letting them become an interruption.
4. Attention Allure
Attention allure is when you are captivated by a new idea. My advice: ask the right questions and filter the answers.
Protocol
Filter ideas that pass through your mind.
Ask the right questions so that you can discern properly whether to ignore or pursue these ideas.
Examples: What do I want? What do they need? What can we do?
The root cause of allure is often boredom, a lack of discipline, or even insecurity. It takes patience, and being willing to see the whole picture to stop attention allure in its tracks. It doesn’t help that our brains are being wired to think the shiny new ideas are the way to go.
When we fail to address any or all of the above, we end up in a state of…
5. Attention Overload
Attention overload occurs when the number of items that need our attention leaves us paralyzed and unable to assess or focus on anything. My advice: pause, prioritize, and process.
Protocol
Change the settings, circumstances, and avenues of access that others have to you.
Prioritize.
Pair tasks wisely.
Know when not to multi-task.
Capitalize on time off.
Your phone is ringing, your email inbox is overflowing, you have an appointment in 90 minutes, someone from Accounting is standing in your doorway, and you haven’t even had your coffee yet. We’ve all been there. A hectic start to your morning sets you right up with attention overload. This mental state of being is not healthy, and it often leaves us paralyzed.
Attention overload leaves us with what Douglas Rushkoff called “Present Shock:” when everything happens now. He says, “The dissonance between our digital selves and our analog bodies has thrown us into a new state of anxiety.”
Protect your focus by blocking out external distractions.
Silencing Your Sources of Interruption
So where do you even start? How do you begin to silence all those sources of interruption? By raising barriers to give yourself space to deal with your current load of tasks. Take it slow, one step at a time, and you will have a greater chance of success. Your attention is valuable, so don’t waste it with distractions!
If you want an organized method to help tackle this problem, consider our self-guided FocusFit Challenge. The four week card-based program will help you eliminate chronic distractions, create space to focus, and pour your energy into the things that matter most.
