Last week I suggested that technology might be useful in helping drive productivity forward. This week, I am changing my view after further reflection. Yes, over time firms have used technology to improve their business performance.  But there is some evidence to suggest the pattern is now somewhat changed.  It seems as though well-performing firms are using

Major technological change does boost productivity. Think of the really big developments - the wheel, the steam engine, the computer, the Internet, the robot. Though it takes time, such technologies have transformed industry and  human life in general.  Sometimes, of course ,the developments are on a smaller scale or more niche in terms of applicability - but

Since publication date of this blog is right at the end of the year, I simply want to wish everyone a productive new year. During the holidays, I am sure you have been reflecting on your goals for 2023 and how you may achieve them.  Without goals you simply cannot be successful. With goals , but

With Working from Home still being a a large factor for many organisations, monitoring of employee work habits has become more common. When did they send the email? When did they access the latest briefing note? Questions like these ,and many more, are becoming easier to answer with messaging snd team-based software becoming prevalent. Such monitoring is

Most of us have some form of ToDo list. This might be very simple  - a list of things in our head that we want to do today or this week - or we might use a sophisticated task manager.  However there are often things on the list that shouldn’t be there - either their relevance (or

Some of us are not naturally morn ing people.  It takes us a couple of hours to becomes fully awake and alert and reach peak performance. If in that couple of hours. you’ve  had one or more important meetings, or you have worked on a key task, you may have performed less well than you

The UK is successful in many areas - it has a large, successful renewable energy sector, a whopping great financial services sector and a large tech startup sector.  Yet UK productivity does not reflect these advantages. Skills seem to hold back UK industry - many firms are finding it impossible to recruit the skilled or experienced

We have known for many years that some of us are larks and some of us are owls.  Well, this simple categorisation has been confirmed by experts (2007 study published in Personality and Individual Differences) who suggest there are actually four of these states - called chronotypes. There are evidently four chronotypes: Lions, dolphins, wolves and bears.  Lions

Many people have been working from home during the pandemic. In fact many of them are still working from home for at least part of their working week. For most of these people, this has been great for their work-life balance.  They have been better able to balance the demands of their work with other responsibilities

Can we raise productivity by doing less? Well, if that lesser activity has a greater impact, then Yes, We Can. You need to shift the mindset of your managers to concentrate on key results and key impacts, rather than counting units or activities or hours worked. Focus on these impact activities and you start to