Ultimate employee productivity can sometimes seem like an impossible achievement – we know what it looks like, we might even know how we can reach it, but the fact is that life and its complications often get in the way.
From employee wellbeing (or lack of it), to environmental or building design factors, there are a variety of hurdles to overcome in the journey to improving employee productivity levels.
There is, however, a tool that can help manage this process and generate successful employee productivity: enter the smart building. When chasing productivity, one of the most common mistakes is to not set accurate and achievable targets.
Business leaders often overlook the importance of gathering data and feedback before they create productivity objectives. The smart building, and indeed, smart technology built for the modern office, can help offset this issue.
Constantly learning about its own environment and inhabitants, the smart building is regularly gathering data that can inform a strong productivity plan – think sensors that show how many people use a particular meeting room, or wearable tech that can record where someone is located in the building at any given time.
As long as this kind of data is used appropriately, it can be a strong foundation for improving the yield of your workforce. Smart buildings and technology also encourage a more agile approach to working, which can be a successful strategy for productivity.
Allowing employees to bring more flexibility into their working lives via the use of smartphones or tablets, more casual working areas (think breakout spaces) or desk sharing, can improve productivity alongside employee job satisfaction. Many business leaders report that giving trust and freedom to their workforce has had a positive outcome, particularly when you consider that many (or even most) people just aren’t cut out for the standard 9-5, chained-to-their-desk grind.
We all have our times of day that we feel most productive, and the environments we feel most comfortable to work in, so providing flexibility is a must for business leaders. While this is possible for all kinds of businesses, even those not housed in a smart building, the smart building can improve flexibility even further by both recording data that can highlight the areas that it should be granted, and even by providing a more seamless experience when it comes to the extra administration that something like desk sharing might create.
The beauty of the smart building is that it is always learning, always adapting. The same approach should be mirrored in our productivity goals – we should always be reviewing, always looking for feedback or areas that can be improved.
The two concepts perfectly complement each other, and as smart buildings become the architectural design of choice for businesses the world over, we may just see a rapid improvement in global productivity levels, too.
