The UK does not have a good record on employee training and development. Compared to many other developed countries the skill levels in our workforce are low. Government incentives to train and develop employees are not strong. - and many employers are fearful about giving employees skills which increase their value to competitor organisations. "Train them
Of course it is. By its very definition, it produces. It turns out goods - often in high quantities. But does manufacturing have high productivity? Yes, it does. Over the years, manufacturing has adopted lots of new technologies - and all of these have had a positive effect on productivity… reducing the time taken to
When starting a task - a simple one or a complex multi-faceted project - the most important factor is to fully understand the context of the task - and your purpose in starting it. What are you trying to achieve? Why is this task/project important in achieving your goals? If you do fully understand the
There is quite a variety of views on the effectiveness of multi-tasking. Some people think it is essential to cope with the demand of a modern workplace. Others think it simply distracts from the efficiency of single-focus work. There is some truth in both views and whether multitasking is 'right' for a worker depends on
I’m interested in both technology and productivity so naturally I have an interest in how technology can underpin improved productivity Like lots of people recently, I have been experimenting with AI software. What becomes clear very quickly is that ‘there is a lot of it about’. Most people are aware of the existence of ChatGPT but
What makes a given process or situation more productive is often a set of factors, some of which are relatively simple and others complex and perhaps hidden. Assume you work for a forestry company. How do you make the forests owned or managed b y the company more productive? You might think of trying different fertilisers,
Strange question for a productivity blog, perhaps but stay with me. Increasing evidence suggests that multitasking is distracting. As is the interjection into the work-place and workstream of email, telephone vocals snd other distractions. People have realised this for some time and s number of them have come to the same conclusion - that they need to hunker
What is the purpose of education ? Actually the question should split into: What is currently the purpose of education?. What is the purpose of future education? As fewer of us will have jobs in the future (because we cannot match the productivity of robots and AI agents), our grandchildren will not need education
Managers make plans. They do it often and over long periods of time. The rest of their time is spent executing those plans. However, as we all know, sometimes things go wrong. Worse still, often those things going wrong are outside of your control or sphere of influence - you are simply a victim of their effects. Effective
As a productivity professional, you get into the habit of asking 'awkward' questions - why do we do that?; why do you do that in that way?; But there are other questions that can be just as useful in uncovering the reasons for lost productivity. Occasionally, you've should go to the key points in a