With New Zealand experiencing among the lowest productivity numbers in the OECD, emerging ways of working may hold the key to helping people achieve more every day. In particular, concepts like low code/no code process automation, artificial intelligence, flexible working arrangements, and putting data to work, could provide the productivity shot in the arm the country so desperately needs.

Productivity is important because more of it means improved prosperity. At a basic level, this means more tax, and more resources for the infrastructure and services required by a modern society.

The trouble with our country’s productivity – which the NZ Productivity Commission notes is 26^th out of the 37 OECD member nations – is multifaceted. The Commission says factors working against the nation include its ‘distance from international partners, small domestic markets, and industry structures. This works against the diffusion of new technologies and ideas into our economy and across businesses’.

As the Commission implies, new technologies are at least part of the problem; the emergence of cloud computing and the availability and accessibility of the latest information technology could therefore support significant productivity gains.

1. Low code/no code process automation

Our top pick for improved productivity is the low code/no code process automation ushered in by platforms like Microsoft Power Automate. These solutions make possible the rapid and effective automation of processes from minor personal ones, right through to chunkier business tasks. The clue is in the name: low/no code; this equips developers with the tools for rapid results, reducing the cost of process automation. At the same time, with reduced cost and effort, developers (often ‘citizen developers’) can experiment with process automation, find new opportunities for improvement, and in so doing drive out ‘busywork’ so people at work can focus on more important things.

The productivity gain is clear: when something trivial but necessary, like filing documents, is automated by Power Automate, it ‘just happens’. If it saves 10 minutes every three hours, the cumulative benefit is soon substantial. Lancom has helped multiple customers to significant success with low code/no code development, including Surf Life Saving NSW.

2. Artificial Intelligence (and Copilot)

AI isn’t scary and won’t be taking any jobs soon. Instead, it is a potentially powerful tool which will help you get more done faster, and more accurately (but it won’t do the thinking for you!) Microsoft Copilot has the right idea – an AI companion there to do the legwork for you. Whether this legwork is creating a PowerPoint slide deck incorporating the company logo and styles – so you just focus on filling in the content – or summarising your sales performance over the past week, Copilot is there to take care of the legwork.

The advantage isn’t dissimilar from low/no code: Copilot takes away a lot of the busywork, the tedious stuff which is so important, but often frustrating and unrewarding. Again, it means you spend more time focusing on the interesting stuff. With one caveat: Copilot may work well in Microsoft’s labs, but it is a bit different in the real world. Making the most of Copilot means understanding what it can and can’t do, and to whom it is and isn’t useful (there is a license implication). Lancom is ready to help you get the most from your use of this promising technology.

3. Ways of working, sustainability and climate change

By now Microsoft’s Modern Workplace is familiar to most. The Microsoft 365 tools are commonplace, and alongside that, the notion of flexible work has emerged as a cleaner, greener way of getting it done. Work, for many, isn’t a place you go, but something you do (this is far from universally the case).

Properly applied, there’s a further quite considerable benefit from flexible work: Climate Change and Sustainability. A growing number of workplaces are introducing sustainability practices into their operations, reducing carbon footprints, promoting eco-friendly practices, and supporting green initiatives.

When people don’t have to join the morning commute or replicate their home workstations with another in an office, it means limited natural resources are better used. That’s good for everyone. It’s also very often a productivity booster; though people are all different, imagine spending your most productive hours at work, rather than stressing out in traffic. Recent years have made this dream a reality for an unprecedented number of people.
And you can see how flexibility could change your environmental impact with Microsoft’s Calculating My Carbon Footprint tool.

4. Great people leveraging quality data

They say data is the new oil, and it is a lot more sustainable than goop from the ground ever was. Using data can help your organisation move from reacting to issues, challenges or opportunities, to strategic foresight.

Did we mention AI? It won’t be the AI that will help achieve this goal, but smart people who know how to spot an opportunity while data provides a backstop of confidence. There’s something of a data-driven renaissance where people equipped with AI and ML tools are extracting wisdom from data-rich environments.

This means the ability to do things better, make fewer mistakes, and capitalise on more opportunities as they arise.

The productivity gain? Pretty clear.

Combined, these four trends give every organisation the potential for gains which, cumulatively, could accelerate the country up the OECD’s ranking. And with the power of cloud software as a service, the cost and accessibility of the services that can make it happen has never been lower – and that means the potential for a brighter future for all Kiwis.