Is your organization dealing with the Productivity Paradox? You may not have heard the phrase directly, but it is a very common problem faced by workplaces these days.

You buy new automated technologies such as software, a laptop, or a desktop computer, or you have all designed to help you and your organization grow the product more efficiently. And then you don’t.

What happened?

Stop Blaming The Technology

According to the Australian, Science study looked at previous research in this field and concluded that information technology has no direct impact on production. But it can help to improve it.

The study also revealed the perception that a production dilemma exists because companies misuse information technology. Specifically, they seem unaware that an increase in user satisfaction will increase the impact of each. Often it is the end in itself, instead of doing something.

It is not always technology itself but what you do with it and how you build your organization that determines whether you will see an indirect increase in production or not. And user satisfaction is the most important thing for any company. 

Where Our Tools Fall Short

So the most important question is, how satisfied are we with the programs and tools we use and our digital work environments as a whole?

Why our satisfaction with IT systems is nowhere near and likely to be?

• Wrong Priorities

The first and most obvious reason is that user satisfaction has never been a priority when companies invest in IT.

Usability, for example, had long been considered a “nice-to-have” feature. Few were willing to pay for it.

Compare this with how consumer markets for digital devices and services today. A device or digital service that does not please consumers will not have a very long life. In the corporate sector, however, employees often live with plans for decades.

• Expectation Gap

In the 90s and early 2000s, people worked on computers and software in their workplace.

Now things are changed. We know the new way to the most advanced and best devices and services of the consumers. And they are meant to make us want to use them as much as possible. As the gap increases between what we know and what we get at work, a decrease in our satisfaction will be.

• Increasing Complexity

Over the years, the number of systems and tools we need to work with has increased, with many more features added to each one. And with the increase comes the increase in the complexity of our digital workplace.

User information is rarely compatible with all of those programs and tools. It differs in everything from visual architecture and contact architecture to details such as data formats.

These inconsistencies increase the burden of understanding on us as users, as we must keep in mind how one system or tool is different from another. 

We have to divert our perceptual resources from creating value to how to use systems and tools.

• Tools Don’t Support Collaboration

Work is becoming more and more unpredictable, based on common practice, and becoming more dependent. We usually rely on others to solve the problem or to complete a task. Our teamwork determines our productivity as individuals and as an organization. If we do not find the right people to work with and don’t work well together, productivity will decline.

The problem is that many of our programs and tools do not fully support informal and collaborative work. Most IT investments focus on implementing transaction processes. For many people, it is still painful to write a document together, even if it is not possible to do so without email ping-pong.

5 ways to Avoid the Productivity Paradox

Here are five ways organizations can do to increase user satisfaction and increase productivity-

• Make user satisfaction your priority

Employees need a digital work environment designed to empower them to get their work done. It should bridge the gap between what they can get as consumers and what they can get from work.

• Reduce Complexity

Reduce the complexity of standalone systems and tools as well as the whole digital work environment. Hide and remove unnecessary features. Remove unwanted operations. 

• Provide Situation-aware services

Provide attractive and easy-to-use digital tools designed to fit the needs of employees. It enables you to switch from one tool to another and from one situation to another.

• Support Collaborative Work

Introduce the best tools for informal and collaborative work. Do not prepare for the second good. Instead of buying at the same time, go for the best breeding method. But make sure the tools are open and blend well with each other.

• Never Stop Improving

Keep exploring new ways to work. Help people not learn and give them time and support to learn new ways. Make it easier to do things right to do things the wrong way. If you are launching a tool like Slack, then delete the internal email completely.