The top one per cent of UK firms grew on average by eight per cent each year between 2004 and 2014, while the lower 99 per cent experienced annual productivity growth of less than one

We are all under pressure to multitask - to deal with emails, messages and reminders whilst also doing our 'real job' Even when not under this avalanche of inputs, many of us choose to listen

On a recent business class flight, the guy next to me got out his laptop and worked on if for most of the flight. I ate the meal,  a drink, snoozed a little and did

I only recently cam across TRIZ - a (Russia-originated) problem solving and creativity guide for 'the rest of us' - those who are not creative by nature.  Part of its 'secret' is that it is

Every week there is commentary in  the US press about the productivity of football (NFL and/or college) teams or individual players. This is not productivity - it is about performance  ... but fails to use

Do you want an innovative organisation - a creative workforce? If so, think about when you last had an original (or half original) thought. Not recently? Well, if you can't think originally, why and how

I have recently been writing assessments for students on productivity-related courses.  This is one of the more difficult exercises in academic life - and, of course, exceedingly important ...both for the quality of the qualification

Those of you who read last week's post will know I was in the USA on vacation.  I am now back in the UK and can reflect on the political differences. The USA was preparing

I’m currently touring parts of the USA with my son, on vacation. We both like a mix of natural beauty, tradition and live music. Tradition anchors a country in its core vales, though the U.S 

When I was growing up, there was a great controversy about whether fluoride should be added to drinking water to combat tooth decay in children.  In the end, science ’won’ and children’s teeth have been

If at the end of a typical working day (of, say, 8 hours) you had to go and start another job elsewhere, I would expect your performance on Job 2 to be limited and poor.

Parkinson’s Law famously stated that work expands to fill the time available. That is why we say “If you want something doing, give it to a busy person.” Non-busy people make themselves look busy by

I was musing about robots recently - as one does ... and started thinking about the sociology of such devices. Humans in a work situation can be excellent performers as individuals but the real performance

I read a piece the other day on the use of productivity measures for academic staff. The measures were all about output quantity (presumably with the proviso that papers wouldn’t be published if they didn’t

Artificial Intelligence is said to be set to revolutionise many sectors. Is this a force for productivity gains or just a threat to jobs? Well, as the Australian Productivity Commission said recently, technology has over

Modern workplaces seem antagonistic to efficient working and productivity.  They are noisy, stressful, full of constant chatter. constant interruptions from telephones, streams of emails and so on. Perhaps its time to turn the clock back. 

Most of us try to organise our working day to maximise performance and efficiency. Yet for many of us that day can be ruined before it really starts. If we rise and start worrying about

If you want the real secret to productivity development, it is ... Well, the most important factor is to always, always remember rule number 7 - train and develop your staff, and treat them well. 

We all know he importance of backing up the work we do on computer - even if we don't always practise what we know we should. We also know we should have some form of

When giving talks to people about productivity, I often express my amazement - and my worry - that governments spend a lot of time working on the wrong things. For example, in the UK at

I read a piece the other day on the use of productivity measures for academic staff. The measures were all about output quantity (presumably with the proviso that papers wouldn’t be published if they didn’t

This week is The Open Golf Championship - what Americans like to call the British Open but is is THE Open. The Open obviously has the best golfers in the world - and as with

I am quite used to seeing strange suggestions for improving personal productivity - often tied to an app someone is trying to sell me.  But the one I saw the other day 'takes the biscuit'.

Does technology improve productivity? Silly question, isn't it? Well no. If you could monitor what your staff are 'working' on all the time, you would find that many book holidays, contact their medical practitioner, look