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In the 21st century we have come a long way from the original working conditions of ‘free workers’ in the industrial revolution. Over time we have created working places which protect, motivate and empower employees. Employers are always looking to improve the workplace to increase productivity and wellbeing of their employees. We look up to tech giants such as Spotify, Google and Facebook and their creative working environments and see those as the current example of how the perfect workplace should look like, even the term ‘perfect workplace’ is clouded with mystery. In this blog we will take a closer look at 5 common myths about the perfect workplace and show you the reality behind them.  

Myth 1: Working 8 hours guarantees productivity.  

The longer you work, the more work you get done. That seems the premises behind this myth that has been around since Henry Ford introduced the eight-hour workday to his factory workers. Experiments here in Sweden with six-hour workdays show that the opposite is true and that 8 hours does not lead to more productivity. They argue that a lot of the eight hours spent at the office are spent inefficiently and that the six hours put down a healthy amount of pressure on their employees. Furthermore, they argue that their employees are happier to show up and leave the office and are in general less exhausted. While we are not arguing that all companies should switch to six hours of work per day, we are arguing that the normal nine-to-five working days should be a thing of the past as they are simply exhausting your workforce. Try to rethink what makes your employees productive and try to tap into their needs. Perhaps working from home is a viable (better) alternative, or shortened working days with shortened breaks. As always, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions.  

Reality 1: Working 8 hours does not guarantee productivity.

Myth 2: The closer the relationship within teams, the less errors will be made.  

When you think about it, it makes sense right? If you have a good connection with your colleagues and your manager and if you got your relationship and work down to a routine, then there should be less room for errors. Nothing is less true. A study by Amy Edmondson shows that employees and managers with a close relationship reported significantly more errors than the test subjects who do not have a close relationship. So why is that? The answer is quite simply: the employees felt more certain to their managers to report errors because of their good relationship. This is important to note because failure is a part of progress. As an employer you need to know where mistakes are made so you can improve your business, therefore it is your responsibility to create the safe environment to be able to report these errors. You should focus on continuous improvement rather than perfection.  

Reality 2: The closer the relationship within teams, the more errors will be reported and the faster they improve.

Myth 3: Like-minded people work better together.  

On the surface this one seems to make sense. The more you are on the same line with your colleagues the faster you take decisions and the better results you will get, right? Wrong. A study by Kathrine Philips, Katie Liljenquist and Margaret Neale disproves this and argues that homogenous teams indeed take faster decisions, but do not make better decisions. The heterogenous teams performed best in terms of decisions as they kept questioning and challenging their partners to come to better results.  

Reality 3: Homogenous teams deliver speed, heterogenous teams deliver results.

Myth 4: Additional perks make for happy employees.  

We have all seen the examples of Google, Twitter and Facebook. Cafeteria filled with food and beverages (sometimes even entire meals), doggy day care services and even cleaning services are all perks which are supposed to make your employees happy. Although nobody ever got sad from a free meal, it is not a guarantee for happy employees. These perks will only be perceived as offerings and add-ons to their job if the working culture is healthy. If you are encouraged to work through your lunchbreak, but in exchange you do get a free lunch, that might feel more as a bribe than an actual perk. It is therefore important that you get a healthy culture first which empower your employees. Only after that fundament is established, can you think about adding additional perks. If you want to learn more from Google, read my blog on the 7 most important lessons here or if you want to find out what truly motivates employees in this day and ages, read this blog.  

Reality 4: Only if you have the fundamentals right, then additional perks will contribute to happiness.

Myth 5: Doing what you love is the best way to achieve the most out of your work life.

We all heard the conventional wisdom that you should strive to work with what you love to get the most out of yourself. This string of wisdom argues that your passion motivates you do great things and make a difference in the world. There is evidence which disproves this self-centred motivation. A study done by O.C. Tanner in 2015 shows that great work or results are not so much achieved by doing something we love but, according to 88% of the participants, it is more focussed on making a difference that other people love. That is where true productivity and great accomplishments lie. This is not to say that you should not try to find job wherein you can do what you already love to do, it is just a way of saying that it is not necessarily the best way of the most out of your work life or achieving great things.

Reality 5: Achieving greatness often begins with trying to make a difference that other people love.

Are you interested in finding out more? Get in touch with us to see how we can help you to:

• Increase productivity
• Open up to errors and improvement
• Create heterogenous teams that deliver results
• Establish a healthy culture which makes for happy employees
• Achieve great results with the right people

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Some thoughts from Ellen, consultant at Peops Relations:  

When I started working as a consultant in People Operations, I quickly realized that I needed to get better at giving myself the best conditions to succeed at work. The pace was high, the tasks new and in a variety of different contexts. It’s an incredibly exciting and rewarding job where you rarely know what the next week will bring.

However, as a person who likes to be 'on top of things', I was facing a challenge in a fast-paced, context-switching world. The feeling of not being in control of my work situation and that the tasks chose me instead of me choosing them, stressed me out. Surely there are more people who recognize this, and we all know that stress is harmful to us in the long run. Prolonged stress is not only a threat to our well-being and productivity at work, but we also risk negative health consequences such as poorer learning ability, poorer memory and a weakened immune system.

To avoid this, I started testing different ways of organising my work, and a year later I am still testing. Based on how we function as humans, what we need and what actually works, four key elements can be summarized in a model we call the PEPP model (Prioritize, Engage, Plan and Pause).

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What is the PEPP model?  

The PEPP model is a summary of what research says about focus and health at work. It focuses on prioritization, planning, engagement, and physical health. It follows a number of studies that point to the importance of minimizing context switching and moving around at work, and its relationship with job performance.

Prioritize: A prioritization exercise that has helped me is to ask the question: What is ONE task that I need to get done today? At the end of this day (or week), what is it that I will be most satisfied with having accomplished? Based on that, I plan and allocate my resources. That way, at the end of the day or week, I can still feel satisfied even if the "to do list" never ends.

Engage: What gets me engaged? What is important for me to feel good and succeed at work? How often do you ask yourself this question? It's not enough to reflect on it at the annual appraisal. We ourselves need to proactively work on our engagement to understand what is important to us and actively create the conditions we need. I have tried to set aside 15 minutes every Friday to reflect on my week (what has worked well and what can work even better next week). This has helped me to understand myself better and what I need to succeed even better next week.

Plan: Box tasks in the calendar and make a plan for the week. Identify any critical days and make sure there is time for breaks. Think about when maximum focus will be required and what will give and take energy during the week. When planning, start from the previous points: what is my focus and what do I need to succeed?

Right now I'm trying a meeting-free day from home during the week to get a day where I can work undisturbed on tasks that require maximum focus - it works great for me and the tasks that require extra attention.

Pause: and get moving! Regular exercise breaks are essential to take care of your body and stay focused. I notice it clearly on the days I'm slacking off, my body is stiff and I'm more tired. On days when I work from home and know that I won't naturally walk as much, I make sure to get out for a walk during the day. During long meetings, I am the one who stands up and does yoga movements.    

For movement breaks, an exercise that works for me is to set a timer for 25 minutes and regardless of what I'm doing at the moment the timer goes off, I get up and stretch my legs. This is not only an effective method to get movement, but also to stay focused on a task.

‍We do not believe that there is a way of working that works for everyone, instead you have to try things out. Some things are fun to try for a certain amount of time, other things do not work at all. Sometimes you don’t have the energy or time to or simply forget to prioritize yourself. And that's okay. As long as we bounce back and continue with sustainable habits. Working life is long and it is our firm belief that the workplace should be a place where health and well-being are prioritized. When we feel good, we perform well. Think PEPP!  

Sources:

How Much Time and Energy Do We Waste Toggling Between Applications? (hbr.org)  

The Biggest Culprit Behind Your Lagging Productivity: You (forbes.com)  

To Improve Your Work Performance, Get Some Exercise (hbr.org)

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A recent report from IHE, commissioned by Hjärnfonden, reveals that a significant portion of brain diseases can be prevented through lifestyle changes. The report shows that low physical activity is the factor affecting the most brain diseases and can be linked to 13 percent of all diagnosed GAD, 9 percent of Alzheimer's disease, 8 percent of strokes, 7 percent of other dementias, and 7 percent of Parkinson's disease. For companies and HR departments, this represents a unique opportunity to invest in employee health. By promoting physical activity and building an inclusive work environment, we can not only improve individual well-being but also help reduce the extensive costs these diseases impose on society.

Three tips to get started:

1. Incorporate movement breaks! Take a detour to the coffee machine, choose the stairs instead of the elevator, and alternate between sitting and standing throughout your workday.
2. Invite colleagues to group workout sessions - exercising together is not only good for health but also strengthens team camaraderie. Perhaps the summer party could include a workout session?
3. Walk & talks - invite colleagues to walking meetings! One-on-one conversations are perfect for walking meetings - and why not take your mobile phone and headphones out for a walk during other digital meetings?

Does your workplace need help? Let’s create a healthier future together - contact us to learn more!

You can read more about the report here: Brain diseases can be prevented (hjarnfonden.se)

Further reading: There are many myths about the workplace. Here we debunk 5 myths about the perfect workplace.