Those interested in productivity improvement (such as me for writing this blog, and you for reading it) often look separately at different sectors off the economy. This is not because the principles of productivity improvement differ across industrial sectors but the context does, as often do the priorities of organisations. This means that treating SMEs
Many of you will know of the concept of a 'flow state' whereby humans enter a mental state where they feel completely engaged and absorbed in the task in hand. Distractions fade away and you concentrate fully onethe task and applying your skills to it. It is sometimes referred to as being 'in the zone'.
Those who read my posts regularly will know that I am not a believer in any positive productivity effects of working from home. It van help but only if the organisation is able to save substantial accommodation costs on workspaces that are no longer needed - and this applies to very few companies who normally 'hedge
There has been a trend over recent years to strip out management layers - searching for the great productivity boom said to result from flattened organisations. Delayering is said to improve communications, increase transparency and lead to faster and better decision-making. The streamlined organisation has higher productivity. Like many productivity approaches, there is an inherent logic to
Some lucky employees have healthcare benefits as part of their remuneration package. The rest of us have to juggle healthcare with our other priorities and are subject to the vagaries of the healthcare system and any associated costs. As knowledge grows of health-related issues, including contextual and environmental factors, we are constantly urged to change
Most business owners and managers are taking a keen interest in AI They have heard the hype and are now excited to learn the reality - to hear of the successful case studies of AI introduction and also the occasional failures (though failures can be under-reported as few want to advertise their failures). But of course,
Is there one? One quality which is more valuable (and therefore more necessary) than others. Well, that is not a simple question. All businesses need a variety and a numb er of qualities to go successful through their start-up phase and then perhaps a different (though overlapping) set of qualities for their 'stablisation' phase, their growth
That’s what many of us think we have to do to make ourselves more productive, more effective. But it’s not true! I’ve repeated many times in this blog that you are not productive if you are not doing the right things. The simplest way to illustrate this is if you have a product in your
The UK has a new Primę Minister - allegedly a charismatic, left-leaning one. He is looking to change things - lots of things. He claims to be supportive of business but we will have to wait and see. What I want are policy and actions that will support businesses in increasing their productivity - support for
Automation has long been championed as a driver of higher productivity in the manufacturing sector. It has been very successful in some areas - most often in high volume manufacturing operations such as automotive and computing. We are all used to seeing robots carrying out activities such as welding car parts. However in lower