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I recently read an article on the ABC website that suggests that workplace burnout is particularly prevalent in Australia, especially in workplaces where workers feel they are not supported effectively by their employers. The research, conducted by Dr John Chan, Managing Director of Infinite Potential, suggested that environmental issues were very much at play, and things like deadline pressure, excessive workloads and constant interruptions create friction that makes it challenging for people to do their work in a straightforward and manageable way. This can lead to excessive stress and for some, burnout.
I agree. When I wrote my book Smart Teams, and later Urgent!, I was searching for ways to help my clients to create more productive cultures that reduced friction and made it easier for us to do our work with balance and control.
The challenge is that most organisations have noisy communication cultures, heavy meeting cultures and reactive prioritisation cultures. Nobody sets out to create these cultures. They are the result of lots of busy people working in a complex environment. And these cultures are not the fault of leadership or management alone. Each one of us contributes to the culture of our team and our organisation. Culture is just a set of group behaviours, and your behaviour potentially creates friction for me, just as my behaviours potentially create friction for you.
That said, I do believe that leaders in every organisation should work to create healthier cultures for their people to work in. I also believe that we all have agency here and a responsibility to reduce the amount of friction we create for our colleagues.
Here are a few things you can do to reduce friction for others:
- Be purposeful when organising meetings and clearly communicate the purpose and required outcomes in the invitation.
- Don’t leave work until the last minute and then request urgent input from others.
- Think carefully before copying others into emails or using Reply All in an email conversation.
- Write communications in a way that allows recipients to quickly understand what is needed from them.
- Keep a list of things you need to discuss with your core teammates and capture your thoughts there rather than interrupting them constantly.
None of this is rocket science. Productive cultures just require us to be a bit more purposeful, mindful, reliable and punctual. These four qualities sit at the core of a culture that can help your team to take more control and work with less friction.
If your team has an offsite planned for next year, why not have a chat with me about our Smart Teams Masterclass and how it could make 2027 a more productive and less stressful year for everyone?