Are broken windows impacting your organisation’s productivity?

When you’re overstretched and juggling multiple demands at work, it’s tempting to let small issues slide. After all, if your focus is on winning contracts or managing a busy medical unit, does it really matter if there are unwashed mugs in your office space or that your team meetings consistently overrun their allocated time?

If this sounds rather too familiar, it might be time to rethink your approach. According to a theory known as Broken Windows, ignoring the apparently minor but visible niggles within your workplace influences how your employees and customers view your organisation and ultimately can have an impact on anything from winning contracts to staff retention.

What is the Broken Windows theory?

Originating from a 1980s criminology study (and implemented as a policing approach in New York, the Netherlands and Japan), the Broken Windows theory is based on the idea that tolerating small, visible signs of disorder and crime, such as graffiti and vandalism, creates an environment that encourages further and more serious crime – whereas eliminating these minor misdemeanours leads to a drop in overall crime.

For example, if people walk past an empty building with a broken window, they assume that damage such as broken windows is acceptable and conclude that no-one cares or is in charge of the building. Within a week, more windows will be broken and the building itself might end up with squatters or be destroyed. On the other hand, if the empty building appears secure with all the windows intact or any broken windows swiftly mended, people in the neighbourhood believe that it is being looked after. This creates a sense of order, where crime is seen to be discouraged and subsequently reduces.

While it was originally developed out of criminology, the Broken Windows approach can equally be applied to workplaces: identifying and mending your organisation’s ‘broken windows’ (the minor issues) as soon as they appear sends out a strong message to your employees and customers that this is an organisation and a workforce that is looked after and that ignoring non-ideal situations is not accepted. In turn, employees will also value and care for the organisation and each other, recognising the standards they’re expected to live up to. The result? A thriving, productive workforce invested in the organisation’s success.

Do broken windows really make a difference to an organisation?

The simplest way to understand the impact broken windows can have on an organisation is to consider a few examples.

Example 1: Uncleared tables

You arrive at a café to find the tables are messy from past customers and staff appear not to notice they need wiping clean. In itself, a messy table isn’t a major issue – but it creates an unappealing environment and could lead you to question how much care and attention goes into food hygiene. If nothing is cleared after a few minutes wait, you may well decide to leave and go elsewhere.

Example 2: Rushed / rescheduled meetings

You have regular meetings diarised with your manager. However, your manager frequently reschedules or cuts the sessions short because she is busy with other demands. Again, in isolation, this is relatively minor. However, the fact that it’s accepted as a norm gives you the impression that your input and development are low priority for your organisation. In response, you may feel less invested in the business and, ultimately, look for a new job.

Example 3: Lack of induction training

You join an organisation that is accelerating fast and winning new contracts. The leaders and existing staff are so busy responding to these exciting developments that you only get a very quick introduction to the systems. You try hard to learn by yourself but it takes more time, meaning you’re unable to quickly work at pace and start to feel demotivated. As a result, you (and the organisation) are less productive and your morale starts to drop.

 

In isolation, an uncleared table, a rescheduled meeting or a limited induction appears fairly trivial, particularly when set against wider organisation priorities. The issue is that, by tolerating these non-ideal situations, you create an environment where it appears that the organisation doesn’t care or isn’t willing to invest in making improvements – and this can have far-reaching consequences, from staff and customers leaving to a workforce that isn’t working as effectively as it could.

In addition, in any of these situations, the staff / customers may leave without reporting the problem they encountered, as it appears to be trivial. The organisation’s leaders may remain unaware of the issue and wonder why they have less customers than they expected or they’ve got a problem with staff retention.

How to use Broken Windows to make your organisation more effective

The positive side of Broken Windows is that the majority of the minor concerns are fixable without requiring a big investment of time or budget – and by demonstrating you’re taking them seriously, you can create a workforce that values and is invested in delivering for the organisation.

Identify your broken windows

Similar to the concept of Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff (GROSS) the first step for implementing a Broken Windows approach in your organisation is creating a psychologically safe environment, where every employee feels able to speak up and trusts that they will be listened to.

While the exact methods you use should be crafted around your organisation, effective tactics we’ve seen include:

• Setting up a ‘broken windows’ board (virtual or physical) where anyone can anonymously post an issue they’ve noticed.
• Adding broken windows feedback as a standing agenda item for a regular company / team meeting. This generally has most impact when it’s kept short and focused – but could be anything from a fast-paced ‘shout out’ with issues gathered on a board to small breakout groups generating and sharing ideas.
• Have a weekly walk around your workspace where you chat with staff and note down any micro-improvements individuals think would help the organisation – from more plants in the office to updating processes for responding to customer enquiries.

What is important is that you regularly repeat whichever feedback format(s) you choose, so make sure that you select a structure that is sustainable and can become embedded in your culture. While you might not immediately find a high level of engagement, you should see participation levels rise once your employees see that you’re committed to listening and responding to the points they raise.

Fix broken windows quickly

In the same way as physical broken windows need to be fixed quickly, it’s also essential that you respond rapidly to points that are raised to show the feedback is being taken seriously – the focus is on rapid micro-improvements rather than lengthy consultations and processes.

Implementing the changes required will build a secure environment and, in turn, will also encourage a cycle of continuous feedback and further improvement.

• Rapidly prioritise ideas that have been put forward, for example, have a quick vote at the end of each meeting on the points raised, create a weekly online poll or give staff coloured dots to highlight their priorities on a broken windows board.
• Identify quick wins and action them. While some issues may take longer to fix, there will be solutions that you can implement comparatively easily – something as simple as reducing the number of agenda items for a meeting or creating a rota for loading the dishwasher can have an immediate impact and build up trust that you are responding to points raised.
• Involve staff in the solutions: ask for volunteers to lead on ideas in their area of interest / expertise or create ‘solution groups’ to explore and resolve specific concerns. They’re often the ones closest to the issue and the solutions are more likely to be sustained if they’ve been involved in their design.

Share how you’ve fixed the broken windows

A central element of the Broken Windows theory is that how people perceive the situation impacts on their response. Remember it wasn’t the broken window itself that caused the more serious issues, it was the impression it gave of how the building was being looked after. This means that it’s not sufficient to simply work behind the scenes to solve an issue – it’s also essential that your staff can see you’ve taken action.

Again, the approach you take should be shaped to your organisation but could include:

• Pinning up progress against each of the points on the broken windows board so staff can see how they are being addressed.
• Begin any shout out / break out sessions in your meetings with a short, focused summary of the actions you’ve taken on points raised in the previous session. An additional benefit of this approach is that it also can prompt ideas to flow in the session.
• Take time to share your reasoning for any points you can’t immediately take forward – the fact that you’re engaging with the issue and having conversations with your staff is powerful in itself.
• Remember to celebrate successes – both big and small. Recognising your team’s small wins as well as their concerns promotes the idea that you notice and care about the work that they’re doing.

If you embed the Broken Windows approach of giving your employees a voice, implementing micro-improvements and sharing positively in their wins, you’ll build a strong, positive, resilient workforce that works with you to achieve those bigger priorities you’ve set.

Now that’s got to be worth sparing a few moments for, even in the most over-stretched day.

The Trickle platform helps employees speak up and captures and prioritises ideas and suggestions. Book here for a free, no-obligation demo.