Speed in the workplace leads to productivity and profitability. Now that I have your attention, let me explain the difference between speed and rushing! Speed is the ability to accomplish more in a productive safe manner. Rushing is getting there without any regard for safety, quality or satisfaction. Is your company’s high level of productivity a result of speed or rushing?
So how do we change our rushing into speed? What does rushing look like? The following list are some of the common “speed killers” which waste moments of your day and negatively impact your work culture. We can all increase our workplace speed by removing these “killers”.
Gossip: These are those minutes of wasted time and work because of the, “Did you hear?”, “Oh, I hate so-and-so”, “The laziness of so-and-so, that is our problem in this department”.
Lack of happiness: “I hate this job, I hate my life, I hate this task.” It’s hard to be productive when we choose to be miserable and unhappy. Hate a task? Try changing your attitude. Before you know it, the task is done. You can also do the tasks you dislike first to get them done. If you hate your life and your job, maybe you need to do something about this. It is not your supervisor or employers’ responsibility to make you happy; happiness is yours to decide upon and make happen.
Workplace politics, drama: Envy the employees who know how to stay out of the politics and drama. Learn from them their skill sets to avoid this waste of time and energy. My favorite line to free myself from this is, “not my monkey; not my circus”. How freeing to have the time to work and not be part of the drama?
Clutter and mess: “Hmm, now where did I put that?” A cluttered and messy environment is a huge speed killer for many of us. How much time do you waste looking for products, forms, policies, clothes, supplies, etc.?
Thinking about ourselves: “Me, me, what about me?” How much time do we spend thinking about ourselves? How long do we spend distracting ourselves and slowing down our work by thinking about how we did not get the shift change we wanted, the after-work gathering invitation, or the attention? Time to show some empathy for colleagues, patients, and customers by thinking about others and not just ourselves. I assure you that you will spend less time being grateful and empathetic than you would spend on worrying about yourself.