A Place Where Collaboration and Productivity Thrive
I recently had the privilege of joining a panel of presenters at a YTM networking event on the topic of collaboration and productivity.
I chose to speak from the human perspective.
I defined productivity as empowering people to perform at their best and collaboration as combining diverse skills, talents, and experiences in pursuit of a common goal.
Economists define productivity as inputs over outputs, or more specifically, the ratio of capital and labour to goods consumed or produced.
So, how’s that working for us?
Well, according to the Annual Productivity Bulletin 2024 from the Productivity Commission, productivity in Australia has declined to the point that in 2023, we were consuming more hours to produce the same amount of output. In other words, we were working harder just to stand still.
And what about collaboration?
It appears that some still believe that it’s just way easier to tackle tasks alone, with the people in the room saying they’re either too busy, don’t have the capacity, or just too tired to do anything else other than what they’re doing right now.
So, what’s the problem?
According to economists, the focus remains on the lack of investment, innovation, and the need for better policies. However, from my perspective, we don’t need more policies that overpromise and underdeliver.
Speaking of HR polices, are all your existing ones up to date too or are you at risk of exposure?
The real solution lies deeper at the heart of the economy. I’m talking about the people who employ people and those who work for them, and understanding what really motivates them.
In particular, I’m talking about the SMEs, the organisations that employ the majority of Australians, and what I’d like to focus on is teamwork. You see, it is within teams where collaboration and productivity occur—people working together, sharing ideas, and finding new and better ways of doing things.
The problem is, it seems, that teamwork has become just that, WORK. Working harder but not necessarily achieving better outcomes, working harder and therefore less satisfying and less rewarding.
Have we become like the guy in the Canadian Dry commercial who says “I don’t like beer work anymore?
They say that there is no I in Team, but I say it’s time to put the ‘I’ back into the team. And by ‘I,’ I mean inspiration.
Indeed, it is the inspiration that motivates us and drives us to want to do better—not more governance nor compliance, but the real purpose and meaningful goals that people want to strive for.
During the networking event, I shared our purpose at Howardco, previously defined as ‘achieving results through people.’ However, as a team, we agreed that this no longer inspired us and therefore was probably not inspiring our clients.
Our purpose had passed its use-by date and we needed to find our new North. It came to us in the form of this vision, ‘People and Businesses Thriving Together.’
We know that people are a business’s greatest asset, and it is businesses that create the space and opportunity for collaboration and productivity to thrive.
Working together for mutual benefit, they are a powerful force to behold. That is what motivates us at Howardco and drives us to do better and work with visionary leaders who share the same passion.
One of our clients found that when they prioritised their organisation’s goals, it not only helped their business excel but supported their people’s personal goals.
It is no surprise then, that most of our work of late has been working with teams in organisations to help them re-discover their mojo through reconnecting, collaborating, communicating, sharing the wins, breaking down silos, and finding better ways to work together and therefore being more productive, with purpose.
If this inspires you, maybe we should be talking. Reach out to us at Howardco!
HOWARDCO READING RECOMMENDATIONS
