Blog2020-11-04T19:42:16+00:00

Start investing

By |August 15th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

Businesses seem to be unwilling to invest in new facilities and even new skills for their employees. I think part of the reason is that investors have become used to the rollercoaster of the tech

What about Google and Yahoo?

By |August 8th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

Last week I talked about the problem of national productivity measurement when we fail to count lots of 'intangibles. Musing further, I got to thinking  about companies like Google and Yahoo who give away many

Are you wasting your time?

By |March 7th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

In a recent paper, the governor of the Central Bank of Barbados said that even though Barbados is relatively prosperous as a Caribbean nation, it will only move up the international 'league table' by improving

Less intervention, more success

By |February 28th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

In small businesses low productivity is rarely the fault of the workers - it is because the owner/manager has not set up production processes properly -or has failed to manage them effectively. Too many owner/managers

Productivity or Innovation?

By |February 21st, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

There has been discussion on the Productivity Futures LinkedIn group this week discussing whether productivity and innovation are natural enemies or bedfellows. Of course I chimed in - well, I can't resist - and my

Spare Me The Surveys….

By |February 14th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

I have started this blog before with words such as ..."I read a survey the other day..."  Sometimes reading the results of these 'business surveys' can be interesting .. but too often it seems the

A Chemistry lesson

By |February 7th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

Teams are sometimes more productive than the sum of their parts - because the 'chemistry' among the team is 'right'. We've all seen such 'chemistry' at work - in working teams and in personal relationships.

Its not my fault!

By |January 31st, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

Productivity is a 'neutral' measure - it doesn't come with praise or blame attached.  To understand the reasons behind the figures we have to dig deeper, sometimes much deeper, than the headlines. For example, we

Me-Time

By |January 24th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

We all need a bit of ‘me-time’ … when we forget about all the tasks we have on our To-Do list, forget all our work pressures, forget our commitments and concentrate on ourselves.  ‘Me-time’ needn’t be

Let’s focus!

By |January 17th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

I've been doing a lot of writing recently.  I'm lucky - I find that words just come out - easily - in torrents.  My problem is not writing; its marshalling my thoughts and turning the

The next productivity push?

By |January 10th, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

What will lead you to higher productivity in 2015? New products, new technologies, new structures? For most organisations, the answer is none of these.  Those that succeed in improving their productivity will do so by

Too many voices?

By |January 3rd, 2015|Categories: Productivity|

I read recently that Coca-Cola has withdrawn its voicemail system from its Atlanta headquarters in an effort to improve productivity.  Callers now get a simple message suggesting they should use another means of contact. Voicemail

Wake Up!

By |December 27th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

Most people are more effective workers in the morning - when fresh.  As the day goes on, most of us tire.  The problem is that we don't always recognise this - and we take decisions,

Reflections

By |December 20th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

Approaching the end of another year is a time for reflection - personal reflection and, if you are brave enough, organisational reflection.  What have you - and your organisation - learned this year that will

What happens next?

By |December 13th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

Labour productivity is all over the place for many Western nations.  It rises, it slows, it plateaus.  It is hard to predict as these countries struggle to climb out of recession.  Productivity fuels economic growth

Local clustering

By |December 6th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

Clusters have been proved to a useful development tool - bringing together companies - and people - from similar industries/activities - to share knowledge and  experience, and to collaborate.  A similar effect can be created

Personally ….

By |November 29th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

This blog is concerned with regional, national and organisational productivity. Rarely do we 'stray into' personal productivity - largely because I think it is more or less irrelevant in terms of raising those other productivities

Please distract me

By |November 22nd, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

I recently had a day off - by 'off' I mean no fixed appointments. I decided to work from home - but I found I got little done. I found the peace and quiet, the

What do we mean by …

By |November 15th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

I was in Italy recently ... and I used public transport quite a bit - trains and buses.  All the journeys I made were on time, and to schedule. Of course, public transport is subsidised

Do things differently

By |November 8th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

At the end of your next day at work ask yourself ... "If we carry on working like this on these tasks, how will we be different - and better - in 5 years time?" 

Productivity or Quality?

By |November 1st, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

I have been in discussions many times with businessmen and advisers about whether firms should concentrate on their productivity or their quality - which has the biggest impact on success. Of course the quick answer

Vertical Links?

By |October 18th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

There are lots of sites and blogs on the web which purport to be about productivity.  Many of these are about what might be termed 'personal productivity' - time management, self-motivation, etc.  This set me

And the secret is ….

By |October 11th, 2014|Categories: Productivity|

I can be as guilty as the next person is hailing specific concepts and practices as being important determinants of higher productivity.  But we should stop searching for the 'secret' - the panacea - and

Go to Top