It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Knowledge Superhero! By Holger Reisinger
Maybe they aren’t able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, but knowledge workers are the real-life superheroes in our organisations. Let’s go behind the mask and see what makes them so indispensable to our success.
What’s the most important position in your organization? Easy, right? The CEO. Or CFO. Or maybe chief product engineer.
They’re all critical, I’ll admit. But in my book, the heroes of every organization are its knowledge workers.
They’re the essence of our organizations. They do the heavy lifting that keeps the products flowing, customers happy, financials in order, patents in force and a whole lot more. Or as the old saying goes, they “keep the trains running on time.”
And they do it amidst the most challenging and often overlooked circumstances. As we’ve discussed previously, the average knowledge worker suffers a more than 66 percent loss of productivity through accidental noise in open office, which is the least productive workspace according to 35% of knowledge workers.
Of the precious time they have, knowledge workers spend about 2/3 of it deep in concentration, defining problems, taking in information and synthesizing it into actionable knowledge. They spend the remaining 1/3 of their time sharing that knowledge in meetings with colleagues or external partners. However, 36% claim that meetings diminish their personal productivity. The causes for this include poor meeting management (51%), lack of decision making (32%) and lack of follow-up (31%).
Add it all up, and that’s a lot of time wasted and spent on tasks that don’t add much value to the organization. And yet knowledge workers seem to keep the wheels turning, enabling us to remain innovative and competitive.
Sorry, CEOs, CFOs and chief engineers, but knowledge workers are the true heroes of our organizations. They don’t wear capes, but maybe they should. And we should acknowledge them for what they are: Knowledge Superheroes.
The Face beneath the Mask
What does a Knowledge Superhero look like? Allow me to introduce one. His name is Andrew Pratt, and he is responsible for our Global Accounts Service Team. All coordination with our large, international customers goes through his team to ensure a successful fulfilment of the contract and a smooth deployment of our products.
Forget X-ray vision, telepathy or shape shifting, Andrew and his Knowledge Superhero sidekicks possess an array of practical superpowers that make them incredibly valuable to our organizations. They:
Are committed. Like Knowledge Superheroes everywhere, Andrew understands our organization’s goals and objectives and his role in achieving them. Confident and motivated, he finds creative ways to get the job done, and does it well. He takes ownership and responsibility for his actions and understands that others’ time is as valuable as his own.
Find information and apply it. Andrew and his Knowledge Superhero brethren know what information they need to overcome obstacles and expertly cut through the clutter and bureaucracy to find it. He always seems to know the right people to contact for the right answers.
Share what they know. Knowledge superheroes like Andrew understand that sharing knowledge, rather than hoarding it, is in their best interest and the organization’s. They know that the more knowledge is shared, the more is created – and make knowledge-sharing a routine part of how they work.
Collaborate like pros. Andrew is an expert collaborator. He and other Knowledge Superheroes devise innovative ways to foster productive teamwork. They transform routine meetings and e-mail exchanges into spirited, information-sharing and problem-solving sessions.
Use the right tools for the job. Knowledge Superheroes understand the role of technology in their jobs and always choose the right one to use to accomplish the task at hand. They know when to call a meeting, when to use videoconferencing and when a simple email will suffice.
Please join me in congratulating Andrew and Knowledge Superheroes like him on their hard work and outstanding achievements!
Additional information
To learn more about new ways of working, read Jabra Holger Reisinger’s blog by Clicking Here
For additional information visit the Jabra Website or view their Company Profile
