The “sawtooth effect” occurs when interruptions occur immediately after starting work, causing a drop in work efficiency. Just when you start working and are feeling good, you take a phone call. Unfortunately, when you start again, you start before you feel good the first time. This is a waste of energy. To maximize work productivity, it’s important to have time to be undisturbed.
At work, we need to find ways to avoid the “sawtooth effect.” The morning is the time when we can work efficiently. This means avoiding phone calls and meetings during this time. Some say this is impossible. However, leaving this unchecked will lead to a decline in work efficiency and long-term losses for the company. The next best thing is to set aside two hours for focused work. Two people work as buddies, with one person focusing on productive work for two hours while the other takes calls. An increasing number of companies are already switching off phone lines to important departments. It seems that measures to combat time wasting are being taken at both the individual and corporate levels.
Going deeper into the buddy story, answering the phone with valued customers requires the same level of skill. Without this skill, phone calls will be disjointed, which could actually be a time-waster. A small or medium-sized enterprise offered a clue to solving this problem. At this company, the production line was halted when a veteran employee took a week off. Because the company relied on experienced employees for certain tasks, there was no employee to take over. Reflecting on this, the company spent several years creating procedure manuals for each task and shared videos of on-site work such as production. They tried to quantify as much as possible the intuition and tips needed for each task so that everyone could understand. The company transformed the workplace into one that employees could cover for each other’s work. Through these efforts, the company created a workplace that everyone could acquire skills and cover for each other.
As an aside, this company manufactures fluororesin products used in fields such as semiconductors, medical care, and precision machinery. A simple calculation shows that the company’s turnover rate is 6.9%. Over the past 26 years, only two new graduates have left the company. While it’s not uncommon for companies to have turnover rates of over 30% in recent years, this company has become a great place to work. Between 1999 and 2025, the company hired 29 new graduates, mostly university and high school graduates. Of those, 27 are still working there. Furthermore, the company has started to move in a positive direction. Even when someone is absent, everyone else steps in, allowing the work process to run smoothly. Employees at this company can now take time off whenever they want without hesitation. Over 90% of employees take paid vacation and parental leave.
