A focus on productivity, and its development is a good thing - indeed, an essential thing for all organisations. However, there is a danger that we over-focus and forget about balance. There is a tendency to bifurcate all activity into being either productive or non-productive. So, a worker operating his/her machine is (clearly) productive. A worker taking
The UK is technically in recession - it has had two consecutive quarters with negative growth. Worse, the economy has been at best stagnant for over two years and productivity has been falling. Our Prime Minister, when he got the job, gave 5 pledges, one of which was to grow the economy. He failed in four
SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) have a number of problems reaching optimum productivity when comported to ‘the big boys’. It is harder for them to achieve the same economies of scale and hard for them to put the same pressure on their suppliers to contain costs. They are less likely to employ consultants and advisers,
Silo mentality is one of the most significant obstacles to organisational success. It has become more severe and more common during the era of hybrid working and especially remote working. Because communication takes more effort, and is more subject to errors and misunderstandings. when people are not face-to-face, it means that employees are often not sharing information with
The Zeigarnik effect describes the way unfinished tasks remain active in our mind, intruding into our thoughts and our sleep until they are dealt with, much like a hungry person will notice every restaurant and appetising smell on their way home and then lose all interest when they’ve had their dinner. You may have noticed
Many people - and especially pundits - are predicting significant productivity gains from the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence). However few will say exactly how this transformation will happen. My view is that gains will come in all sorts of places that we do not yet know about - as adopters realise just what AI can
Lots of ‘soft’ initiatives are claimed to improve performance and productivity, often by increasing the motivation or satisfaction of employees. These include such things as reduced working hours, flexible working hours and wellness programmes. These may indeed raise satisfaction and performance when first introduced. However, rarely do they last as motivational factors. They simply become part of the
We all got used to meeting online during the pandemic. Apps like Zoom and Teams were part of the fabric of our work. Now many of us are back in the office but the Zoom/Teams habit is hard to break. Some of us have a number of online calls and conferences every day, keeping us
There are quite a few blogs offering advice on personal productivity - how to handle complex ToDo lists, how to delegate tasks, how to prioritise, how to concentrate on important tasks, and so on. Such blogs - and other media offering similar advice - have been operating for years, yet it seems as though there are
Each year we say to friends, family and colleagues, "Happy New Year" - either as the 1st January rolls around or the first time we see them in the new year. What we are saying is "Good luck", merely wishing them that fate serves them kindly during the year. Neither we, nor they, have any