PRODUCTIVITY VS EFFICIENCY : 05 TACTICS TO BOOST & BALANCE IT

7 min readJul 26, 2021

Productivity vs efficiency is the most puzzling circumstance for any organization as there are a lot of dilemmas. Although, they are unitedly interrelated. Gaping how? Increasing productivity will tamper with efficiency while improving efficiency affects the time taken to do the tasks. Although the perplexing question is how to distinguish the terms from each other?

And we understand that the above-stated statement is unclear too, and we try to explain it in our best way.

So productivity vs efficiency terms are somehow interlinked. Efficiency is the quality of work done, while productivity is the quantity of the work. Let us take an example to apprehend both terms. Supposedly an employee completed the work double than assigned to him/her within the time limit.

Undoubtedly it will look good on the productivity sheet, but here the role of efficiency comes. Productivity gets drained when the doubled task gets rejected, due to quality and standard of work. Subsequently, an employee did half of it in the given time limit. However, it gets accepted due to the best effort and patterns of the work accomplished.

In both scenarios, productivity and efficiency suffer. That is why it is a puzzling situation for many organizations. In this blog, you will read everything about these terms, side effects, and curation of productivity vs efficiency.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY?

DESCRIBING PRODUCTIVITY

Productivity can be explained as a ratio between the output volume and the volume of the inputs. Productivity is a significant key source of economic growth. Mathematically, the productivity formula is as follows;

Total output/total input = Productivity

Apprehending the situation with few examples are the better way ;

#1- If you manufacture 60 screwing bolts and unfortunately, out of that 60, 30 are working. Implies you have given half of the productivity compared to the manufacturer who produces 60 working screwing bolts.

#2- Assume you are a social media manager, and in January, you have posted 200 pieces of content. In March, you invested in a social automating tool and published 600 posts that month. Undoubtedly March was productive for you.

Countless businesses crave productivity from their employees that ultimately increase their business revenue and production too. But seeking only productivity factors can be dangerous, as explained in the above example.

Likewise, the Titanic was inundated with the powers of the strongest and largest ships in the world, ignored the devastating power and illusion of small yet big icebergs, and caused the most unfortunate incident of history. Productivity alone invites harm for any organization and, this is why productivity joined its name with efficiency.

DESCRIBING EFFICIENCY

Efficiency can be explained as the fundamental reduction in unproductive resources to produce a better output. Technically, efficiency is removing all the worthless and non-productive time and resources to be fully optimized.

Mathematically, the efficiency formula is as follows;

(Standard labor hours/amount of time worked) * 100 = Efficiency

Few examples to understand the situation well are;

Suppose a designer designed 02 couture high demand dresses for the client and both dresses did not meet the fitting well and expectation of the client. Implies, the designer productivity is good but does not profit them. On the other hand, another designer designed only one well-fitted and quality dress. Hence efficiency calculation is on point.

Efficiency and productivity combination is always the right thing for any organization or individual to explain with an example. Presume, Linda is a content writer in a firm and produces 20,000 words a week while merry writes 10,000 words nearly, half as compared with Linda.

However, Linda’s work needs 20 hours of proofreading and editing. On the contrary, Merry content needs simply a glance and good for going live spontaneously. It implies that Linda is no doubt productive but not efficient. And Merry is prolific and efficient at the same time.

EMPMONITOR — SINGLE PLATFORM TO KEEP PRODUCTIVITY & EFFICIENCY ON BALANCE

The main wasting activity of an employee or organization is the time taken to track the productive and the other non-productive activities which employees spend while working. However, the time invested in monitoring is also a time-wasting activity.

EmpMonitor chops down the tracking and monitoring time for both management and individuals. Supremely, it tracks down and measures all the activities, whether productive or non-productive. It is not only limited to tracking and monitoring but also embedded many more technologies;

Time Management- Manage time and narrowing the activities to managing the employee alone can increase productivity and efficiency. EmpMonitor timesheets automatically calculate the productive and idle hours of an employee.

Graphical Reports- Get detailed insights of all the activities and the reports of productive hours, idle hours, productivity levels displayed in the simple graphic patterns.

Insider Threats — Narrow down the exploration of sensitive content with the appropriate security controls and detect abnormal activity before and respond before a threat turns into a breach.

PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH EMPMONITOR

EmpMonitor allows the administration to unseal the surreptitious productivity slayer factors while giving a clear vision and understanding of individual progress. Increasing efficiency and leveraging productivity all in one platform.

Being productive and efficient is interrelated with each other; they cannot be against each other. Managing both can let you achieve goals, and EmpMonitor ensures the management and individual should be on the balance of both these terms. EmpMonitor salient features and smart intelligence measure productivity on point.

Read our blog on How to Measure Productivity in the Workplace: 07 Cracking Tactics.

05 TIPS ON IMPROVING EMPLOYEES EFFICIENCY AND PRODUCTIVITY

ESTABLISH THE ACHIEVABLE AIMS

Foremost for establishing attainable goals is to step backward and relax. Track down and define the key aim on the topmost priority and count on the consideration of the capability to complete them.

Set the aims which are possible and keep motivating yourself to achieve those goals. When you complete the pre-decided goals, it will further stimulate better performances.

FEEDBACKS

The workplace environment distracts the concentrations of the mind too hot or cold, dark and too bright. Afterward, getting distracted takes more time to get back on the focus track.

In the workplace, team feedback makes the culture of the workplace trustable, and providing valuable exact feedback will encourage the employee and motivate them to accelerate them further. Teamwork culture and feedback policies can be helpful for the employees.

DIMINISH THE DISTRACTIONS

There are many distractions like motiveless meetings and not being comfortable with the working environment that impacts your mind’s efficiency and productivity. Try to diminish the distractions for both workplace and remote work environments, keep your mind calm and choose the place for your work with fewer distractions and better positive energy.

HAVE THE PRECISE TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES

When productivity vs efficiency is the main target to achieve, both factors should remain in balance. Without balancing these factors, suffering is the definite result. However, employees and organizations abandoned the old aged paperwork for tracking productivity and efficiency.

Now, this work relies on the shoulders of the employee monitoring tools and equipment. Numerous organizations rely on this software to track and monitor the productivity and efficiency of the employees. Although apart from this, they have countless benefits too.

EmpMonitor is a cloud-storage employee monitoring software ensuring your employees and individuals remain productive and efficient at the same time.

ENHANCE WORKPLACE SITUATIONS

Whether you’re working from the office or home, for improving your productivity and efficiency, workplace conditions play a crucial role in setting the temperature, the lighting, and the working desk.

The workplace environment distracts the concentrations of the mind too hot or cold, dark and too bright. Getting distracted takes more time to get back on the focus track.

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FINAL THOUGHT ON PRODUCTIVITY VS EFFICIENCY

In the game of productivity vs efficiency, both factors complement each other. However, every brand and organization desires to maintain these factors in their employees and invest in every possible tool, but when it comes to an individual’s few here and their tactics can help to improve these factors.

Productivity is not just about focusing on remarkable goals and counting on every minute of the day either. It’s a complex process with multiple disciplines, and alone it can be unworthy. Efficiency vs productivity is the key to the success of the company and every measure worth considering.

EmpMonitor, not only monitors and tracks the employees but also highlights phrases, productivity vs efficiency. Although, it has many beneficial features for both organizations. I hope you like this blog, and you can keep and kick your productivity and efficiency a little bit.