Unlocking the productivity potential in your organization - the devil is in the details. Louise Harder Fischer

PhD. Fellow, IT-University of CopenhagenExternal Associate Professor, CBSand External Research Partner, Jabra

Morten Fløe KnudsenBusiness Communication Manager, JabraThe New Ways of Working InitiativeContact: mfknudsen@jabra.com

Introduction 04

Understanding differences – exploring patterns 05

Diversity at work 09

Key take-aways 13

Unlocking productivity 16

The different archetypes in knowledge work - as discovered in Jabra's Work Potential Tool 17

Jabra’s New Ways of Working philosophy 18

Content

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Abstract: Value-creation in organizations relies more and more on how good your employees are at living up to their true potential. Living out their true potential depends on many factors, but first (and foremost) it relies on the possibility, that people can fit work related elements (technology, culture and location; and how they communicate, collaborate and concentrate), to their own preferences. In short, it means, that organizations increasingly grant people autonomy to choose and control a wide array of work related elements.

In our organizations different archetypes of people work together; – a Game Changer is always on the move, taking smart decisions,

connecting people – a Guru, the wise colleague tying actions to strategy, always applying

experience – a Genius knows where information is, following standard procedures

with high quality results – a Guardian, a rock solid colleague and culture-carrier. We need them to live up to their best every day. With granted autonomy, the era of one-size fits all culture and technology is over and a new has begun.

While personality differences is widely acknowledged as influencing behavior and decisions in general, other resulting differences in workplace behavior are not that well understood: What are the varying mindsets toward work, what are the work-habits and preferences in technology support; and how does it affect productivity? In this White Paper we answer these questions and provide you with a unique peek into the new world of work, in which the individual takes center stage.

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Game Changer

Guru

Genius

Guardian

In knowledge work, autonomy has long been the Holy Grail to productivity and innovation. Successful organizations are increasingly realizing that unifying knowledge workers1 to conduct work in a certain way does not work. Especially if you want an organization, that is agile and that can cope swiftly with the ever-changing market requirements. When it comes to success-full organizations, acknowledging that people are very different, even when they work for the same company, is the new Holy Grail in workplace productivity and agility.

In this White Paper, we give you a peek into some of the underlying idiosyncrasies of humans at work that affect productivity and value creation. The findings come from exploring data from the Jabra Work Potential Tool.

Choices and behaviors are to a great extent related to personality traits. Humans in general comply with five different traits2. Archetypes are specific examples of individuals, whose behavior reflect a specific personality trait. In this analysis, we have grouped people under the label of four different archetypes. We have done this to understand the underlying variances in human behavior and choices that are central to productive knowledge work.

See table 1, for our explanation of the archetypes: Guru, Game Changer, Genius and Guardian. From nearly 900 respondents from Europe and the USA collected through September 2015 to March 2016, we explored patterns between four questions posed, and the four archetypes, using Watson Analytics.

While distribution and correlations in data sets give new insights, it delivers a general picture of what is actually happening. We have looked for insight that is more granular by exploring patterns of behaviors, preferences and mindsets, related to archetypes.

1 Definition of the knowledge worker; The task based knowledge worker’s primary tasks are: turning data into knowledge, bringing these into play with colleagues and business partners in order to make good decisions.

2 Typification method: We have used the OCEAN-personality trait model, normally referred to as the big five https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits. Combined with experience of behavior in knowledge work we constructed four arcehtypes described in table 1. The relation to OCEAN is applied in the following way: Game Changer is related to personality traits of extraversion (E ), Genius is related to personality traits of conscientiousness ( C ), Guardian: is related to personality traits of agreeableness (A) and Guru: is related to personality traits of openness to Learning (O). N (neuroticisme) is not included.

The take-away from this White Paper is an awareness that will inspire you to take the first step toward creating a work environment in which you, your employees and your colleagues, can live out your full potential.

Introduction

TEST YOURSELFBefore reading on, we recommend you do your own work profile assessment. With the results you will learn more about how minor work-style tweaks will make you more productive.

Take the test here; jabra.com/campaigns/nwow

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Normally we do not reflect on the small differences, but differences in behaviors, habits, mindsets, work-routines and use of technology is important to recognize. When people are granted autonomy they decide and select based on their values, hence personality traits. Therefore it is vital, to get a deeper understanding of the “archetypes at work”. Who are they? How do they define work? When do they feel the most productive? Where do they do their best work? When do they prefer to concentrate? These are the findings from the analysis and exploration. First, we present the general distribution in the data set, then we relate them to archetypes.

Question 1: How do you define work? A majority of 44% defines work as a continuous learning process, while 27% defines work as working in short cycles with other people. To 21% work means showing up at the office, undertaking tasks given to them, while 8% see work as an activity that equals following standards. The overall picture being that 71% defines work as something in which they pro-actively apply knowledge and experience, while 29% are more re-active in work.

Question 2: When do you feel the most productive? Focused in front of the computer is experienced as the most productive way of working to 41%. 25% state “in well planned meetings” while 23% answers 1:1 dialogues. Only 11% sees e-mail communication as a productive way of working. The overall picture is that focus-time is important, in order to be productive.

Understanding differences – exploring patterns

Chart 2:

When do you feel the most productive?

a. In well planned face-to-face meetingsb. Through email communicationc. In 1:1 dialogues (phone/instant messaging/ video conferencing)d. Focused in front of the computer

11%

23%

41%

25%

Chart 1:

How do you define work?

Being at the o�ce equals workingFollowing standards and processes of our “production line”Continuous learning process using knowledge to create new ideasWorking in short cycles together withpeople where and how it fits best

8%

44%

27%21%

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Chart 3:

When do you prefer to concentrate?

a. Morningb. Afternoonc. Eveningd. All day

18%

14%

19%

49%

Questions 3: When do you prefer to concentrate? The general picture is that 49% prefer to concentrate in the morning, while 18% prefer the afternoon, 19% says that they can concentrate no matter the time of the day, while 14% state that evenings are their preferred choice. Concentration-time matters to people, and the fact that people have different preferences, signals that people are very much aware of what it takes for them to concentrate.

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Chart 4:

Where do you do your best work?

a. At homeb. At the o�cec. Virtually d. In public placese. Other places

54%

11%

6% 3%

26%

Question 4: From where do you do your best work? 54% sees the office as the location from where they do their best work. 26% state that working at home is where they perform their best, preferring this over the office. Working virtually – not showing dependency on a physical dimension - is the number three choice, but only to 11% of the respondents. While other places sum up to 9%. The physical location still matters.

Question 5: What are the distribution of archetypes? The most “well-represented” archetype in the workplace with 288 persons (31%) are Gurus. They have the role of counseling and coaching, and typically, they take wise decisions based on reflection and experience, creating a link to the overall strategy. Genius are represented by 264 (28%), they typically fill out an expert role, knowing where to find information and share knowledge in order to solve problems. Guardians are represented by 214 (23%); others come to them to get direction of how to follow procedures and receive insights on company culture. Lastly, 171 (18%) sees themselves as Game Changers. They network and innovate, connect the dots and act on those things; others come to them to be motivated.

Chart 5:

Archetypes

Game ChangerGeniusGuardianGuru

28%

23%

31%

18%

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Exploring patterns between archetypes and the answers from above, reveal small but interesting differences. Remember that the devil is in the detail.

Question 6: What is the relation between; ’How do you define work?’ and ’Archetypes’? In chart 6-9 we see the following diversity. The Guru sees work as a continuous learning process (77%) [Chart 6]. The Game Changer predominantly sees work as short cycles interacting with others (66%) [Chart 7], The Guardian [Chart 8] sees work as both a learning process (38%) but also as being present in the office (29%). The Genius [Chart 9] on the other hand stand out by also seeing work as following standards (19%). The differences are obvious and reflects what motivates and guides the different archetypes in the way they organize their work and are the most productive.

Diversity at work

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Chart 6: The Guru

77%

17%2%4%

Chart 8: The Guardian

7%

38%

26% 29%

Chart 7: The Game Changer

16%

19%66%

9%

Chart 9: The Genius

19%

46%

21%14%

How do you define work?

Being at the office equals working Following standards and processes of our “production line” Continuous learning process using knowledge to create new ideas Working in short cycles together with people where and how it fits best

Question 7: What is the relation between; ’When are you the most productive at work?’ and ’Archetypes’?In chart 10-13 we see the following diversity. The Guru [Chart 10] is dependent on focus time in front of the computer to be productive (44%), but sees meetings as productive too (27%), dialogue is not high on his agenda (20%). The Game Changer [Chart 11] is also dependent on focus time (35%) but feels almost as productive in 1-1 dialogues (33%), meetings is not high on his agenda (21%). The Genius [Chart 12] feels productive while focusing (41%) but also in dialogues (24%) and meetings (23%). The Guardian [Chart 13] is the one that feels most productive in well-planned meetings (28%), while focus in front of the computer is the most important (40%). 1:1 dialogues are the least with 19 %. None of the archetypes feel productive e-mailing - the highest number being 13% while the lowest is 9%. Gurus and Guardians seem to prefer well-planned meetings over 1:1 dialogues. While the opposite is applicable for Game Changers and Geniuses.

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Chart 10: The Guru

9%

20%

44%

27%

Chart 12: The Genius

13%

24%

40%

23%

Chart 11: The Game Changer

11%

33%

35%

21%

Chart 13: The Guardian

12%

19%

41%

28%

When do you feel the most productive?

a. In well planned face-to-face meetings b. Through email communication c. In 1:1 dialogues (phone/instant messaging/ video conferencing d. Focused in front of the compute

Question 8: What is the relation between; ’When do you prefer to concentrate?’ and ’Archetypes’?In chart 14-17 we see the following diversity. Besides preferring to concentrate in the morning (47%), more Gurus [Chart 14] than any other archetypes are able to distribute concentration throughout the whole day (23%) while afternoons (16%) and evenings (14%) is not high on the agenda. The Game Changers [Chart 15] prefer mornings (52%), but are also able to concentrate whenever they see fit (21%) while evenings (15%) and afternoons are less preferred (12%). Geniuses [Chart 16] also prefer mornings (49%), but prefer afternoons (21%) over all-day (17%) and evenings (13%). Guardians [Chart 17] while also fond of the morning (49%), prefers afternoons the most (24%) compared to all others, while all-day (13%) and evenings (14%) is preferred less. The Gurus and the Game Changers seem more flexible, while Guardians and Gurus seem more structured.

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Chart 14: The Guru

16%

14%

23%

47%

Chart 16: The Genius

21%

13%

17%

49%

Chart 15: The Game Changer

12%

15%

21%

52%

Chart 17: The Guardian

24%

14%

13%

49%

When do you prefer to concentrate?

a. Morning b. Afternoon c. Evening d. All day

Question 9: What is the relation between; ’Where do you do your best work?’ and ’Archetypes’?In chart 18-21 we see the following diversity. Besides having a preference for being in the office (48%), the Guru [Chart 18] also prefers to work from home (33%) when they want to do their best. While the Game Changer [Chart 19] mainly prefers the office (49%), home (25%) seems less attractive. An interesting finding is that they signal more independence from a physical location, as 15% state working virtually and 11% say ‘work from other places’ is where they do their best work. The Genius [Chart 20] does - by large – his or her best work in the office (63%) while the home base only accounts for 16%. None of the other alternatives seems appealing, but working virtually is preferred to 12% of the Geniuses. Guardians [Chart 21] are likewise attached to the office by 55%, while ‘home’ accounts for 28%. The Gurus and Guardians seem to like the home as an alternative to the office. While Game Changers and Geniuses also see an alternative in working virtually. There seems to be no interrelated pattern between archetypes when it comes to location.

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Chart 18: The Guru

48%

9%

7% 3%

33%

Chart 20: The Genius

63%

12%

7%2%

16%

Chart 19: The Gamechanger

49%

15%

4%7%

25%

Chart 21: The Guardian

55%

7%7% 3%

28%

Where do you do your best work?

a. At home b. At the office c. Virtually e. Public places e. Other places

Our findings are quite clear. On the general level, knowledge workers are pro-active; productivity comes mainly from focus-time in front of the computer; mornings are the preferred time for concentration; and the office is still where people do their best work. Gurus is the largest group in the workplace, then comes the Geniuses, Guardians and Game Changers are the fewest. No matter the distribution, their choices and behaviors are all important in relation to value creation.

When we explore the patterns underneath these findings, and relate it to an archetype, the simple picture loose its explainable power. When people - as autonomous beings - are free to choose how to conduct work, interesting dynamics emerge. Exploring how different mindsets, measures of productivity, preference of location and time differs from archetype to archetype and how it impacts organizational life, thus foregrounds a much more complex world of work.

Mindset at workComprehending more about the underlying mindsets, gives us a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics in the work place. People’s mindset is causative, thus affecting choices and behaviors. Do people define work as being standardized; do they feel that it is ‘enough’ to show up in the office, doing what they are told to do? Do they see work, as a process in which they proactively apply new knowledge and experience, while collaborating with others? Being either/or, has a major impact on how we recruit, organize teams and coordinate work, but most importantly it affects how we interpret productivity and how we deliver value. In our analysis, the majority have a pro-active mindset (71%), while the re-active mindset is represented (29%). When related to archetypes, we now know that the re-active mindset comes from the Guardians and the Geniuses, while the Gurus and the Game Changers are much more pro-active.

Key take-aways

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“…the majority have a pro-active mindset 71%, while the re-active mindset is represented 29%”

…the office is still where people do their best work 54%

“When people - as autonomous beings - are free to choose how to conduct work, interesting dynamics emerge.”

Measures of productivity in knowledge workRise in productivity is vital to organizations (and society). While productivity usually is at matter of input-output ratio, productivity in knowledge work is a matter of taking good decisions and coming up with good solutions. Thus, productivity is no longer just a management issue; it matters to the individual worker himself.

Practical issues of too many meaningless meetings, overload of e-mails, time wasted on searching for up-to-date versions of documents and interruptions from colleagues, is recognized impediments to productivity in knowledge work. While we know a lot about what hinders productivity in knowledge work, we seem to lack some more concrete evidence as to what facilitates productivity, besides autonomy.

Our findings give a picture of a workforce that sees their primary contribution stemming from novel contextualized knowledge. People by far feel most productive in front of the computer (all archetypes). While this could signal an excluding behavior, the computer (or any other device) gives access to expertise networks, where they search, capture, conceptualize new insights and codify information. This is core in knowledge work. The Game Changers and Geniuses also rely on 1:1 dialogues, thus showing a preference for more personalized and fast-paced way of creating knowledge. The Guardians and the Gurus prefer well-planned meetings, preferring a more formal and perhaps slower decision process, while it also secures a more democratic knowledge creation process.

Autonomy - time Workers are increasingly supported by mobile, social and cloud technologies, which frees them of many prior constraints of location, time-zones even scarcity of talent-co-workers. Work in global organizations is thus a mix between distributed and co-located work. While concentration-time is a central and important part of people’s work, we need to know more about when people prefer to concentrate in these new settings.

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“…we seem to lack some more concrete evidence as to what facilitates productivity, besides autonomy.”

“…productivity in knowledge work is a matter of taking good decisions and coming up with good solutions.”

51% of the people focus on carrying out work, structured and well planned, preferably during office hours.

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Prior research found that mornings are good, while we need energy from others in the afternoon. While all archetypes prefer mornings, the Gurus are the most flexible, able to concentrate during the whole day. Game Changers are also flexible, though preferring evenings to afternoons. The Guardian and the Genius represent a more structured preference. While mostly preferring mornings, they also represent a strong preference towards afternoons. This shows a pattern: 51% of the people (Guardians and Geniuses) inhabiting the workplace focus on carrying out work, structured and well planned, preferably during office hours (mornings and afternoons). While Gurus and Game Changers - representing 49% of the workforce - are more dynamic and flexible, concentrating when they see fit.

Autonomy - locationIn organizations, open-office spaces with designated activity areas are mushrooming as one measure to increase productivity and knowledge sharing. While, at the same time mobile, cloud and social technologies has increased the flexibility of location. When we relate these measures to the established preference of being focused in front of the computer as an important element in knowledge work, it is interesting to see the preferred location from where people experience that they do their best work. Does physical location still matter or is the office still the preferred place? While the office is the preferred place (54%), it just represents a little more than half the workforce. This means that almost half of the workforce produce their best work outside of the office. The home seems to be high on the agenda (26%) as a preferred alternative to the office. There is a wide variety when it comes to the archetypes. The Genius prefer the offices by 63% while Gurus also prefer ‘home’ by 33%, which is quite a high number. This means that more than three out of ten gurus prefer to stay home to do their best work. The Game Changer and the Genius while also preferring the office, their second preference is home. However they also seem much more open towards working virtually than do the others.

“…more than three out of ten Gurus prefer to stay home to do their best work.”

49% of the workforce are more dynamic and flexible, concentrating when they see fit.

The below pattern reveals differences and no linearity, which is why productivity enhancement policies often have little impact or are for the worse.

If the Game Changer or Genius feel inhibited in carrying out knowledge sharing in 1:1 dialogues (conversations), their productivity will decrease, while setting up policies for less meetings (collaboration), will decrease the productivity of Gurus and Guardians. If working from home represents a challenge in the workplace, Gurus and Guardians will feel a loss of autonomy, while large (and often noisy) open offices is a challenge to Genius, Guardians and Game Changers. If concentration-time in the morning becomes a company policy, then the afternoon will probably be filled with meetings. This will inhibit Gurus and Game Changers due to the fact that they don’t have a preference for planning concentration time.

The fact that a majority of people see work as a continual learning process means that change, exploration and innovation is a fact of organizational life. At the same time, exploitation and augmentation of organizational knowledge is vital, which means that complying with standards and processes are likewise important to organizations. Bottom-line is that one-size does not fit all, neither does the command- and control paradigm. Organizations are moving in the above direction, realizing that new ways of organizing is important. In the wake of this exploration, new concepts of organizing arises: Ambidextrous Organizations – driving exploitation and exploration simultaneously; The Networked Enterprise - in which the individual are the locus of value creation; The Exponential Organization - where autonomy is a key element, are just few examples of new types of organizing work emerging in the business world.

While many people when confronted with complexity, often try to take measures that decrease complexity into simple matters of causal relationships and linearity, this is not the time to do it. As argued for above, these steps will only worsen the productivity agenda. Instead, we need to raise the awareness of people’s differences so that people themselves can take measures towards co-configuring and co-creating productive work-settings and relations.

Your next move!If you want to take a first step toward an agile and wise organization: take the Jabra Work Potential Tool. With this, you will get to know more about yourself, your preferences and your potential.

Unlocking productivity

“Bottom-line is that one-size does not fit all, neither does the command- and control paradigm.”

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Aspects of productivity/Archetype Gurus Guardians Genius Game Changers

Mindset Pro-active Re-active Re-active Pro-active

Productivity Concentration & Collaboration

Concentration & Collaboration

Concentration & Conversations

Concentration & Conversations

Time Flexible Structured Structured Flexible

Location Office & Home Office, Home, Virtual Office Office & Virtual

Table 1

The different archetypes in knowledge work.- as discovered in Jabra's Work Potential Tool

About the data: From September 2015 – January 2016, Jabra asked 888 individuals from from 22 countries a series of questions, as part of the Jabra Work Potential Tool. In this, we asked about their preferences in work-situations, habits of knowledge-sharing and choices of communication technologies, all questions related to being a knowledge worker in a modern global organization. We prompted people with 5 specific questions, categorizing all respondents according to pre-designed categories of archetypes labeled Guru, Game Changer, Genius and Guardian (see fact boxes). These personality types represent different traits in humans. In a work-related context, they all deliver value to the overall value-creation process, differently. Respondents used the assessment tool to get tips and tricks to raise their productivity. Specific data has been extracted into a database. While the original number of respondents was 1100, we erased all respondents with blanks. Then we took the remaining 888 respondents and used Watson Analytics to explore patterns between archetypes and specific choices, preferences and behaviors.

Guru In a fast moving world, the Guru helps everybody keep the same perspective, make the wise decisions and stay on the strategic course. The Guru is the inspiring colleague, creating new knowledge, sharing different perspectives and insights with others. The Guru loves to fiddle with challenges and work with others to perfect everything they do. However, things take time after long workdays engaged in interesting discussions, they’re often forced to make their individual work after hours or at home, which is the only place they get time to think for themselves.

Game ChangerThe Game Changer is always on the move, applying their energy to everything they and their colleagues do. Every time they run into challenges, they have a bold new solution, or they know someone in another department or in their network who can get the job done. Their agenda is packed with appointments and they never eat lunch alone. But boy, time just flies! Often, they are forced into taking swift decisions where they would have preferred more time.

GeniusIn a corporate world full of hot air balloons, the Genius keeps their cool, sticks to the facts and creates rock solid solutions that last. Their memory is crucial to the whole department. And they’re the ones who knows where to find facts or tacit knowledge needed to get to the next level. When someone dreams up something crazy, everybody looks to them to cut through the clutter and make the proof of concept. They prefer to communicate via email. It saves time from endless meeting and keeps everything documented in writing for further distribution or use.

GuardianThe Guardian keep the ship tight and on course. And their impeccable project skills are highly appreciated at work. But, actually it’s their people skills that make them succeed. They spot how people feel from afar and they make sure to include everybody in the organizational and working culture. The Guardian loves project meetings for giving overview and getting everybody on the same page. In between meetings they continuously talk with the entire team making sure everyone is happy and the project proceeds as planned. Unfortunately, their talking steals time from their own work, which leaves them stressed and somewhat disorganized, especially when unexpected stuff suddenly needs to be dealt with.

Many organizations have employees that are using nonproductive ways of working, yet initiatives that improve productivity are too often achieving the opposite. New technology and office designs are introduced as a positive influence, but are instead detracting from productivity. The challenge is overcoming this paradox to achieve the ‘flexible, productive and wise work’ that is within reach.

Businesses need a better understanding of human behavior offering elements of autonomy on the individual level and transparency on the collective level, and an acute awareness of when communication methods or a way of working are not delivering the intended benefits.

Jabra’s philosophy on ‘New Ways of Working’ is the idea of organizing work towards realizing people’s full potential.

Jabra wants to advocate managers and employees alike to make a conscious choice of work-modes depending on the task whether collaboration, concentration, conversation or communication:

– Concentration is about making good decisions by turning information into knowledge– Communication is transference of knowledge independent of time and location– Collaboration is the most powerful tool to turn complex problems into valuable

solutions. Bring new knowledge into play with colleagues or business partners– Conversations between two people, who genuinely listen, understand and talk to

impact behavior, is the most effective tool to elevate the value of human interactions

Organizations should continually ask themselves: Who is responsible for productivity in the modern workplace? How do we enable better productivity? How do we measure the impact of better productivity?

Join the ‘New Ways of Working’ initiativeJabra’s ‘New Ways of Working’ initiative is a joint initiative that involves everybody who is struggling with changes in how we work, how we organize work and how we motivate employees and colleagues to be part of the journey.

It advocates a reflection on how to best design work for improving the four Cs: concentration, conversation, communication and collaboration, and in turn becoming more innovative, productive, and successful.

Follow our blog and join us in the discussion at blog.jabra.com

How Jabra meets these challengesA lot of issues with today’s working environment are about two common factors: sound and technology, as this research also shows. Jabra works specifically with audio and unified communications solutions that improve the modern work space and enable individuals to hear more, do more and be more. The modern challenges are reflected in the products that we take to market.

If you are interested in learning more, please go to: www.jabra.com/business/

Connect with Jabra on social media:LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/jabraTwitter - @We_are_JabraFacebook - facebook.com/jabra

Jabra’s New Ways of Working philosophy

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About JabraJabra is a leading international developer and manufacturer of a broad range of communications and sound solutions committed to let people hear more, do more and be more than they ever thought possible. The consumer and business divisions of Jabra markets corded and wireless headsets, plus mobile and in-office speakerphones that empower individuals and businesses through increased freedom of movement, comfort, and functionality. Jabra employs around 1000 people worldwide and in 2015 produced an annual revenue of DKK 3,229 million. Jabra is the brand of GN Audio, a subsidiary of GN. As part of the GN Group Jabra has a reputation for innovation, reliability, and ease of use that goes back almost 150 years. GN comprises a unique portfolio of medical, professional & consumer sound solutions that makes life sound better through its research, insights, and expertise in sound. GN operates in more than 90 countries across the world, has more than 5,000 employees and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen.

www.jabra.com© 2016 GN Audio A/S. All rights reserved. Jabra® is a registered trademark of GN Audio A/S. All other trademarks included herein are the property of their respective owners. (Design and specifications subject to change without notice).