Can I have some more, Sir?
We all need more food. The world population continues to grow. At the same time, however, we devote less land to agriculture as we create mega cities and urban sprawl. The only solution is increased agricultural productivity.
Let Them Laugh
I remember once walking past an office and the staff in there were obviously enjoying themselves. They were laughing - at what, I know not. My first thought was ‘How odd. Shouldn’t they be taking their work
Simple
A very simple way of thinking about productivity is to identify the things that block or slow down throughput and eliminate them. I know this is an oversimplification because in some case, removing a bottleneck
Working Hard is Not Enough
I get concerned when I see famous people in all sort of fields (‘celebrities’?) give advice to youngsters saying something like “You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do. You
Learn from other Disciplines
Someone once told me if you want innovation in engineering, don’t ask an engineer. They’ll give you accepted (and workable) engineering solutions but they won’t give you groundbreaking, innovative or creative solutions. What you need is
We need real, not artificial, intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is touted as ‘the next big thing’ in productivity improvement - and there is little doubt that we will see lots of examples of AI taking over relatively menial, snd some more
Are Some People More Productive Than Others?
Most people assume that some people are more productive than others - and for some jobs, that is clearly true. But for many people, their productivity is determined by ‘the system’, the technology and the productivity
What’s The Purpose?
Many firms put in systems to improve productivity, by monitoring what is going on and how hard people are working. They manage - or micro-manage - the time of their employees and how it is filled.
Trteat gyouyr employees like dogs
Do you have a dog? If so, you know that, above all else, dogs value ... food, yes, but consistent behaviour from their owner. That is how you train your dog - by applying consistent
The Technology Circle
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
Technology might help
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
Happy New Year
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
Why do you monitor employees’ home working?
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
What’s on Your ‘Don’t Do’ list?
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
Become a Morning Person
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
Limited Success
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.
Thje Right Rhythm
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
Get the Balance Right
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
Do Less
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
Know Your Enemy
If it aint broke, don’t fix it. That’s a useful slogan in some circumstances - but not in business. If you expect the status quo to deliver success, you are likely to be disappointed -
Hard or Soft?
Is productivity improvement a hard or soft skill? Is it better, for example, to consider and analyse hard performance data or approach improvement from a softer, behavioural stand point. This is definitely not an ‘either ….
The Productivity Divide
I have written a number of blog posts relating to working from home including ones that describe the difference in view of effectiveness of WFH as perceived by employees and their managers. Managers who think staff
Digital Presenteeism
We know there is a disconnect between the views of employers and employees on the productivity of working from home. Employees are happier and believe they are more productive; their managers are not so sure. Now
Its Not Football
Lots of US sports articles talk about productivity of a team, or a quarterback or other star player. Of course, they don’t understand the meaning of ‘productivity’. What they are talking about is ‘performance’. The two