Being a helper at the office-especially today, when “the office” is virtual for many-comes at the cost of our personal productivity and creativity. It’s crucial that organizations empower their employees to protect their time-and their sanity-so their instinct to be helpful doesn’t cause more harm than good.
Collaborative work consumes most of our week
Email and other internal collaboration activities account for 42% of the average knowledge worker’s time, leaving less time for deeper, more focused solo work.
- As we spend more time on collaborative work, the tasks that require focused concentration take longer to complete, which increases our burnout risk.
A mostly self-inflicted problem
Studies show that 20% to 35% of value-added collaboration comes from just 3% to 5% of employees
- Unfortunately, much of this teamwork happens under the radar, so it goes unnoticed and unrecognized by management
- In hybrid and remote settings, where one-to-one meetings take place online and therefore aren’t visible to higher-ups
Preventing collaboration overload and burnout
Time blocking
- Block off time on your calendar for focused work
- Agenda setting
- Standing meetings
- Boundaries
- If you don’t feel comfortable doing these things or saying “no” to collaborative activities-that indicates a problem that needs to be addressed at a higher level
