This Is What Happens When Workers Are Busy But Ineffective

“What you allow is what will continue” – Source Unknown

One in three Australian workers feels stressed from having too much work to do. What percentage of this stress is caused by the volume of work versus ineffective work methods that see workers busy but ineffective?

On face value, the easiest approach to reducing workload stress is to give workers less work to do. While that’s great in theory, it’s possibly not sustainable from a financial perspective. Therefore, let’s consider this from an angle of productivity. If we assumed some workers weren’t as effective as they need to be, then how does the environment look and feel like?

Let’s start with the impact on the people. Besides feeling stressed, busy workers who are ineffective feel:

  • Frustrated

  • Overwhelmed

  • Disengaged

  • Fatigued

They’re also the most likely people in the organisation who are prone to burnout, are sleep deprived or take sick leave.

There’s also a significant impact on the performance of the team. The ability to achieve team goals is noticed by the frequent:

  • Missed deadlines

  • Projects exceeding budget

  • Low morale

  • Lost productivity

What can be done?

It starts with leaders deciding on the workplace culture they want their teams to work in. Is it a place others aspire to join or those within can’t wait to leave?

People want to be part of a culture or a team that’s enjoyable and rewarding to be part of. A culture you’re able to describe to your friends how great it is. Great cultures are based on the behaviours of what people do day in day out.

Busy workers need to be supported and shown how to unlock capacity that enables them to accomplish outcomes in less time. To be achievers and believers.

When this is done they’re able to thrive while contributing to and building a positive workplace culture. It’s a responsibility of leaders to ensure the busy and ineffective workers get the personal productivity coaching or training they need. The ROI in dollars and positive culture is worth it.