4 Steps to Improving Productivity [useful tips]

If you ask managers how important productivity is, you will surely hear the answer: “without productivity, our company would not exist.”  

In this day and age, the big question is ‘how do you measure the productivity of remote work?’ 

Many areas of work, especially remote work, cannot be measured in traditional ways. The traditional way to measure productivity is the return (or the output) of the three resources: time, knowledge and money (the input). But the inputs and outputs of business processes have changed completely in many ways over the last few years.  

Productivity today cannot always be measured in existing ways, yet productivity must be measured. Productivity does not necessarily mean that employees behind computers are connected to a “system”. What was productive in 2019 and 2020 may no longer be a sign of productivity today. The most pertinent point is this: you can’t improve productivity if you don’t measure it. So how can companies continue to be productive in the face of the global challenges we are facing currently? 

Of course, there are still many “traditional” areas where you can continue to be productive in a steady way. There are also many areas – remote or hybrid working are two of those - where you will need to adjust your measuring methods for productivity.  

Above all, it is not always necessary to measure productivity. It is more important to manage it: you need to create a corporate “culture” of productivity. A culture of productivity means adding value to all activities at all levels of the company: individuals, teams/departments and the organisation as a whole. 

What does productivity mean?

Productivity means many things. Productivity means ensuring that all activities in an organisation make sense and create more value than costs, setting and achieving goals with optimal use of resources, coordination of all efforts, and influencing everyone to pull in a common direction to achieve the goals of the team and the organisation.  

Productivity means that people, processes, and systems are efficient and successful. Processes and systems may have been efficient and effective in achieving results until employees started working remotely or in a hybrid. Over the last few years, we’ve had to adapt our ways of working so that we can still ensure better productivity.

It’s the same with systems and processes in a company - but with one key difference: Systems and processes do not operate on their own, but are managed by people. Remember that even Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also prepared, organised and run by humans.

Accepted and expanded remote working in the company requires everyone to rethink and redefine their productivity. 

There are few good measures that would always suit everyone (i.e. a "one size fits all" approach) and it's difficult to really benefit everyone in the company. You need to find your answers to the question of productivity in the future and apply some golden rules to the development of your human capital. 

Measuring employee productivity is perhaps more about appearances than effectiveness. And remember this: it's not worth measuring the productivity of a new idea if you don't implement it in a new product/service.