What Is Productivity?

Productivity means the efficiency of an organization or its employees to convert inputs, such as capital and labor, into outputs, like services or products. Project managers employ incentives, goals, and communication strategies to boost employee performance and increase productivity.

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Why is productivity important in workplace?

But what does that mean, and why is it so important? In economists’ terms, “productivity” means labour productivity. Specifically, how much value each worker generates per hour.  Higher productivity means higher wages, and an increase in the standard of living.

With the current cost of living crisis, and in the face of doom laden media speculation about under investment and inflation, the drive to improve productivity from the ground up has never been more pressing.

How does productivity affect you ?

Regardless of your industry or role in the business or organisation where you work, the level of personal and group productivity will have an impact on costs, and revenues. But what does this actually mean for you and your business?

Analysing your business’ productivity is a positive, proactive way to tackle a national problem. The good news is, making the necessary changes to improve doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming. 

We’ve worked closely with clients from a broad range of industries for over a decade, and pride ourselves on the key areas of;- 

Workflow Management.

We can identify areas of improvement and help you streamline your workflow, with our Business Process Mapping Solutions.

Keep track of your processes and automate the flow of data with our Workflow Manager Tool.  

Automation.

Automating menial tasks frees up your time, allowing you to concentrate on more important areas of your business. Clients report efficiency gains of 30% and more simply by automating repetitive tasks.

Improved Reporting.

Poor, inefficient data management is one of the biggest challenges to productivity. We can help you streamline your data analysis with our Smarter Dashboard solution. Save time, and get a clear picture of your data in concise, graphical format. 

Communication.

With remote working here to stay, and clients frequently working out on site, poor communication is fast becoming a time consuming challenge to productivity. Our Smartsheet tools are cloud based, meaning that data is uploaded in real time, ensuring everyone is kept in the loop. Create staff surveys with our tools such as Smarter Forms, and can take advantage of features such as cascading drop-down lists and conditional logic. 

Training.

Ensure your team has the skills they need to do the job. Engage with them to ensure they feel part of any new changes, and listen to what they have to say. Our training modules are run as 1-2-1 sessions, or remote workshops for the entire team.  

But in our experience the real secret is no secret at all. We recognise that nebulous productivity stats and government targets aren’t right for everyone. There is no one size fits all approach. The real answer to the Productivity Conundrum lies in identifying the challenges specific to you and your team. 

It’s in those conversations when we sit down together and talk specifically about your business, your challenges, your goals for the future, that we can start to build a picture of what will work for you. 

Streamlining processes to improve productivity

We have the tools and a team of experienced consultants ready to implement the changes you need to see achievable, measurable change, at a pace that’s right for you.  

Demo videos of all the solutions mentioned in this blog are available on our Youtube Channel. Or, for a free consultation get in touch with us today.

The post The Productivity Conundrum. What is it and how can it be solved? appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.

In the time it took you to read this sentence, 20 million emails were written.

There’s no question we all receive too much email (over 100 billion emails are sent and received each day). But, no matter how many times we complain about time wasted over email or the sheer amount of messages in our inbox, the truth is, we actually like it. And science can prove it.

We get a rush of dopamine to the brain’s pleasure centres every time a new email comes in. Researchers believe that our compulsion to constantly check email is driven by the dopamine releases that occur in anticipation of receiving good news.

Along the sames lines, our sense of value gets inflated the more emails we receive. According to award-winning author and recognized technology authority Phil Simon, “we secretly love email. We tell ourselves, “Look at how essential I am to the company!’”

Simon’s new book, Message Not Received, examines how we communicate and often misuse language and technology at work, especially email. Via extensive case studies, he demonstrates how business professionals are embracing simpler language and new technologies to communicate in a more effective way.

Smartsheet got a chance to interview Simon about business communication mistakes, trends, and best practices.

Here’s the conversation:

Q: What are the most common mistakes in communication you see happening in business?

A: There are two key mistakes to emphasize: too much email and too much jargon.

In mid-2014, a large software vendor released a press release on its new, next-generation, big data platform as a service. In the first sentence, there were 61 words. It was totally confusing.

I’m not against changes in language—language changes very organically, but many, many people are using more jargon and confusing people more than ever. And, when we get that jargon in emails, we just shut down. We make mistakes and we don’t understand what we’re supposed to do.

Q: Has email always been an ineffective communication channel? Was there a turning point?

A:  It’s not always effective or totally ineffective. Communication has always been contextual. Certain mediums can be better than others. Marshall McLuhan famously said, “The medium is the message.” He’s absolutely right.

I’m not anti-email; I’m anti-inefficiency. Productivity usually suffers on incessant email chains.

Let me make it more concrete. Let’s assume that 80% of emails are actually clear and you receive 10 emails per day. That means two don’t make any sense to you. That’s manageable.

We actually get 120 to 150 emails per day. More than 20 times per day, you receive a message that doesn’t make any sense to you.

Email was never designed to be a collaboration tool. You can’t search your inbox as effectively as you can search 25 trillion web pages. It usually takes us less than one second on Google to get what we want. Our inboxes contain 20,000 messages. At least a few times per day, we can’t find something in our inbox.

Brass tacks: Email should not be our default communication tool.

Q: Do you have a general rule-of-thumb about when it’s best to email, use chat, or talk in person?

A: First, I have a three-email rule. After three, we talk in person. Second, I pick up the phone if I want to catch up with someone or explore different opportunities. Third, it drives me crazy if someone sends me multiple attachments via email. I like collaborating in real time. And lastly, I will not engage in a difficult ‘conversation’ over email.

Q. What does the future of business communication look like?

A: The future of business will be split. You always have your early adopters, people who won’t manage a project over email and go with tools like HipChat, Jive, Yammer, Smartsheet, and many others. Early adopters will maintain an advantage over companies that refuse to embrace truly collaborative technologies. Organizations that use antiquated tools are missing out. More and more companies will embrace collaboration tools; they have to.

Simon closes by saying, “There is not one best tool. I want people to think carefully about what we’re saying and how we’re saying it. I want people to ask questions about whether or not they’re communicating efficiently.”

About Phil Simon

Phil Simon is a frequent keynote speaker and recognized technology authority. He is the award-winning author of seven management books, most recently Message Not Received. He consults organizations on matters related to communications, strategy, data, and technology. His contributions have been featured on The Harvard Business Review, CNN, Wired, NBC, CNBC, Inc. Magazine, BusinessWeek, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Fox News, and many other sites.

The post Life by Email: An Interview with Author Phil Simon appeared first on SmarterBusinessProcesses.