Thoughts on workplace efficiency

Written 25/08/2015

Thoughts on workplace efficiency

My unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: “Is this person in between me and what I want to do?” If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when you’re in charge, don’t hire the people who were jerky to you.

- Tina Fey

I like this quote by Tina Fey because it is linked to a concept that I believe very strongly in, which is workplace efficiency. Too often do I see people getting caught up in things that don’t matter at work, like trying to do what everyone else is doing, office politics and gossip, taking on work they don’t want to do because someone asked them to, etc.  Time is an incredibly precious resource, and should be optimised as much as possible. I’ll admit this is difficult to do. I certainly waste plenty of time on things that don’t matter in the long run (shout out to Facebook and Reddit!) but I spend a lot of time thinking about how to best use my time.

This is particularly important in the workplace. People spend the majority of their day at work, so it’s essential to find a way to make this time both meaningful and enjoyable. The only way to be happy is to prioritise the things that make you happy, so EVERYONE should have a good grasp of the things that make them happy. This could be a very simple idea (I like to have fun) to a detailed priority list (I want to get promoted, I want to improve my presentation skills, I want to build my network, etc.)

When you work for a company, especially a large one, you have access to opportunities, networks and resources. By optimising your workplace efficiency, you take advantage of these. Having a set priority list will ensure you jump above the people who don’t know what they are doing. It ensures you don’t waste time doing things you don’t like, don’t need to do and aren’t useful for you.

If you don’t care about getting promoted and just want to have as much fun as possible? – Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t take on unnecessary work. Just do your job, and leave! People may complain about you, but they don’t matter. All that matters is that you are doing a good enough job, and are using your time to have as much as possible.

If you want to get promoted and reach upper management? – Figure out what upper management want from you, and do these things. Do ONLY these things. Focus on what the people who are important to your career want. It’s no use attending lots of networking events without focus, or taking on lots of projects that don’t ultimately add to your portfolio. You want to become an expert in only the tasks that are useful for your career. Figure out these as quickly as possible and do them as well as possible.

If you want to develop a specific skill? – Do this. In your down time at work, focus on developing on these skills. Build relationships with people who you know have this skill, so they can teach you. Ask if there are any courses you can take on this. Ask your HR or Learning departments if there are any programmes around this. Try to shift your job duties so they align with building these skills. 

Overall, I believe very strongly in having a set of personal priorities that you focus on within the workplace. Obviously there are constraints to this, but you should have a vision in your head of what you ultimately want to achieve. Sometimes people don’t want to achieve anything. They just want to go to work, get paid and chill out in their free time. That’s fine. That’s a priority. Some people care very deeply and have set career goals. That’s their priority. Ultimately, you should know what you want so you can get it from your workplace. At the end of the day, the workplace is getting what it wants out of you (your time and energy) so you must be proactive and get what you want out of your company.