Transforming Work with Sophie Wade 156: Andrew Mawson - Increasing Productivity: Key Factors, Brain Capacity, and Mental Load
Andrew Mawson, Founder and Managing Director of Advanced Workplace Associates, explores how organizations can enhance performance, especially by helping employees better manage their brain capacity. Andrew shares six evidence-based factors most impacting knowledge worker productivity. He discusses the neuroscience-researched factors affecting brain function and performance. Andrew offers actionable leadership guidance to reduce mental load, enhance employee well-being and resilience, and achieve sustainable results.
TAKEAWAYS
Chapter 1: Andrew's Early Career
[01:18] Andrew studies applied statistics finding it useful, later describing reality through numbers.
[01:59] Working in tech and defence, Andrew then joins Fujitsu and leads a program on intelligent buildings.
[02:47] Intelligent building initiatives aim to increase computing adoption and data integration.
[04:54] Advanced Workplace Associates is founded to bring a business- and people-focused lens to workplace strategy.
Chapter 2: Six Key Factors of Knowledge Worker Productivity
[07:31] Analysis of past research identifies top factors impacting knowledge worker productivity.
[09:28] Factor 1: Social cohesion emerges as the top factor boosting collaboration and innovation.
[10:43] Factor 2: perceived supervisory support with leaders tailoring their approach for each person.
[11:41] Factor 3: Information sharing enables a culture of openness, countering knowledge-hoarding.
[11:59] Factor 4: vision clarity helps employees connect their work to the team and corporate purpose.
[12:45] Factor 5: external communication makes teams challenge their ideas and be open to others' views.
[13:29] Factor 6: Trust underpins all factors, fostering belief that leaders and colleagues do the right thing.
[15:10] Leaders must create a level of certainty to reduce employee anxiety despite external turmoil.
[16:21] Social cohesion usefully creates a buffer during uncertain times, enhancing resilience.
Chapter 3: Research into Brain Performance
[17:16] Humans are individual brains – research identifies 14 key factors to optimise performance.
[18:42] Sleep (7.5 hours) is key for brain performance, with quality and preparation critical enablers.
[19:50] Hydration, exercise, and a good diet—with breakfast—are also essential for cognitive health.
[21:39] Leaders must recognize that lifestyle habits affect their team's productivity and wellbeing.
[23:00] AWA is running a cohort trial to educate leaders on brain health and track performance.
[23:57] After baselining, coaching how to integrate new habits and track performance.
Chapter 4: Cognitive Capacity & Managing Load
[24:56] Recognising finite brain capacity, environments can be designed to reduce mental loads.
[25:55] Everyone can better manage their well-being and outcomes using workspace that increases capacity.
[28:10] A story of making tea illustrates how cognitive load varies by individual and context.
[29:37] Brains are managing humans' entire systems unconsciously, consuming much energy.
[30:20] Personal stressors, such as family and finances, compound work demands and brain strain.
[31:24] Leaders need to monitor workload and not exceed employees' brains' capacity limits.
[32:34] When excessive load get to a point that it blocks capacity for planning and logic.
[33:26] Managers and employees can manage load together to restore cognitive function quickly.
[34:13] Organizations are communities of connected brains aiming to optimise knowledge flow.
[35:05] All six factors are linked and applied together can improve productivity and wellbeing.
Chapter 5: How Leaders can Improve Performance
[36:26] Leaders need to better understand how the brain works to enable high-performing teams.
[37:07] Most managers lack vital training; the six factors offer a useful playbook for leaders.
[38:17] How many managers believe social cohesion is their responsibility?
[38:58] Competitive pressures between teams create division and undermine collaboration.
[39:54] Leaders must promote and model trust and social cohesion to cultivate environments that enable success.
RESOURCES
Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA) website
QUOTES
"The name of the game is to get everybody as socially cohesive as possible to allow fluidity of movement, of knowledge and, and collision of knowledge."
"[External communication is] the idea that you should expose your knowledge and your brain to other things…. going to other places and have other people challenge your understanding so that your understandings remain fresh."
"Humans have got a finite capacity and how that capacity is loaded and eaten into is also another important part of the jigsaw."
"Organizations really are communities of connected brains…I think the first thing the leaders need to do is understand more about the brain."
"Brains are the unit of production going forward in the world of knowledge work."
"We are all actually different…We should be trying to create an environment and giving people knowledge about the status of different spaces and things in the places in the building so they can go and choose."
"The duty of a leader is to try to create a level of certainty, create a vision, and create a direction of travel that is almost independent of the turmoil that's going on."