In our workplace, we witness people involved in Sisyphean tasks, which yield them no fruits and is a clear burden on them. The irony is, some of them don’t even know this and think they are indulged in productive work. This makes matters even worse as these poor employees are not even aware of what they need to do and how they can make things work for them.
Sisyphean Task
Companies need to think about ways to tackle this issue on a mass scale. The reason is this seemingly harmless practice that is currently being done by just one or two resources can spread into the whole organization. There are certain aspects related to this that can be troublesome for the whole organization in the long run.
There can be numerous ways in which a person can be involved in a Sisyphean task and don’t even know it. For example, a person performing a daily task of photocopying notes that are needed for a presentation. He will do the same task again and again, without thinking about how to improve the process. Photocopying is something that can be done through a printer by using a computer as a dedicated person is not required in this concern.
The scenario mentioned above is a prime example of individuals indulging in a task that will not bear fruit for him at the end of the day. Even when a person’s performance will be measured after a specific period or year-end, one can imagine how much impact that person’s performance will make. Virtually zero, as a “photocopy man” is more like a liability than an asset to any company.
How can Businesses Work to Avoid Sisyphean Task?
From the above example, one thing is clear; not everyone who is working all day is a useful resource. He is incurring must cost to the company in the form of salary, provident fund, leave allowance, etc. So how can a company avoid such workers? Downsizing is one aspect as we all know that this offers a quick remedy, but firing workers is not a long-term strategy, especially if that worker can be accommodated somewhere else.
If you have an idea that in the modern era, people are doing redundant or unproductive tasks as easily recognizable, you are partly right. While such people can be recognizable, there is no way that they are always taken care of, and the role of managers is critical here. More on that will be discussed later in the blog.
Sisyphean Tasks in General
Companies looking to take advantage in this regard need to be aware of the fact that first, they need to educate the employees in the concern. The reason is simple; not all the employees know that the task they are doing is not a redundant one. That’s why they are happy doing it in the same way for months or sometimes years.
If you think that there are multiple issues in the way you are employees are experiencing, Sisyphean tasks are one of the reasons for this. Just like the photocopy example, there are multiple scenarios in which companies need to look at exactly what their employees are doing and if they are doing their work productively or not. This one single question can save a lot of time and effort for any business. That’s what I would like to discuss in the subsequent paragraphs.
Educating Employees about the Sisyphean Task
I am sure that not every employee is aware of what the consequence of any task is performing for what part of the project it is. If the project manager or the team lead Is not proactive enough, or not working diligently, then there are chances that one more office team member is involved in a Sisyphean task that is simply hurting the performance of the team and making an entrance in completing a project on time.
The role of a project manager is to oversee all aspects of a project. And that’s why there are multiple ways in which he can check the performance of his team members. Any employee doing a redundant task and not even aware of it is doing a lot of harm to not only the project work for the overall performance of the company. And that’s why a project manager must be accountable as one or more of his resources are not working to the optimum.
The use of a free task management software can be effective so that everyone in a team knows what exactly they are doing and why it is a good practice to use such software or tool in this concern. Let me show you how.
A Software or Tool that can Enhance Performance of Employees
There are multiple ways in which the use of software or tools that can enhance the performance of employees. It doesn’t matter that if they are working under several managers or directly a project manager is overseeing their performance, constant management of their performance and daily work is a requirement.
From the above statement, don’t get a notion that I am talking about micro-management or something like it. While micromanagement in itself is not a wrong thing, there are multiple scenarios concerning it that make this not suitable to apply in every situation. For newly inducted employees, it can be a necessity for some days to monitor their early performance and if they are the right fit for the company.
Final Word
If you think that doing any task or work very hard is the only solution to success, it is not true. First of all, you should be sure that what you are doing is not a redundant task that can be easily turned into a Sisyphean task. There are certain elements companies need to think about so that they can have a great future ahead. And making sure all the employees are working to their optimal and not involved in any Sisyphean or useless task, is what the target of managers and team leads must be.
If you can add something valuable to this blog, please go ahead. And if you haven’t understood any aspect mentioned here or want to offer your feedback, please use the comments section below.