How effective, "you were today?
"Productivity = Effectiveness X Efficiency"
– Bryce's Law
INTRODUCTION
Well, you think you had a great day at work today, you've accomplished a lot. And maybe you did. On the other hand, maybe you do not I did as much as you might think. Many people believe that just because they are a model of efficiency, which are still very productive. This is simply not true. We discussed the concept of productivity in more than one occasion in this column, but some trends in the industry have prompted me to return again.
Perhaps the biggest problem here is that people falsely equate efficiency with productivity. They are most definitely not synonymous. Efficiency refers to the speed of delivery, reduced errors, and the minimum cost or effort. In other words, how fast you can perform a given task at reduced costs without incurring substantial errors in the process. But what if we are doing the wrong job at the wrong time? Obviously, this would be counterproductive no matter how effectively they performed the task. I always use the example of industrial robots in an assembly line, which can perform tasks such as welding very efficiently. But if you are welding something wrong with wrong time, are counterproductive.
This means that there are two variables that influence productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. Whereas efficiency refers mainly to speed and "do things right," Effectiveness means "doing the right things." In other words, working on tasks in the sequence correct. Sequence can be defined for a single project for its work breakdown structure (WBS) and previous relationships, or work on several projects on priority basis.
Analyze This
To illustrate this point, we consider your work activity today (either make this analysis end of the day or the last working day).
1. First, let's define the classification EFFICIENCY for the day, as a guide, do the following:
1.00 – that was a dynamo of today, worked quickly, without errors.
0.75 – I did more than my share, not too many mistakes.
0.50 – I did my share, the average number of errors.
0.25 – I was below average, some errors.
0.00 – If a bad day, too many mistakes, a lot of time lost.
EFFICIENCY Enter your number here: __________
(Enter any number from 1:00 High 0.00 Low)
2. List of their work assignments PRIORITY IN SEQUENCE, (list of at least the five works, whether it is within a single project or on several projects, Obviously you can have more tasks, but we will limit to five the purpose of this exercise):
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
- __________________________________
3. Account of his time during the day using the form below. Be honest.
A. What were the "TOTAL HOURS IN THE DAY" (THD)
(The total number of hours spent at work)
Hours ___________
B. Of THD, how much time was spent in the interference or activities not directly related to their work tasks (eg, breaks, lunch, meetings, reading, surfing the web, e-mail, mail, telephone, travel between appointments, etc)?
___________ Hours
C. Enter the number of hours during the day on its five priorities (enter "0" if you work on something) and then extended to calculate the number according to the equation is displayed:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- HOURS – - – - – - – - – - – - – EXPANDED
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1 Priority (___________ / THD) X 1.00 = ___________
2 (___________ Priority / THD) X 0.90 = ___________
Priority 3 (___________ / THD) X 0.80 = ___________
4 (___________ Priority / THD) X 0.70 = ___________
Priority 5 (___________ / THD) X 0.60 = ___________
Note: The hours here, along with the recorded time of interference ("B") must equal the total hours in day (THD). In addition, the exchange rate used in the calculation is based on the priority (highest to lowest).
4. EXTENDED Add the numbers of the five priorities:
(This is its "effectiveness" rating)
EXAMPLE
A. What were the "TOTAL HOURS IN THE DAY" (THD):
8 HOURS
B. Of THD, not how much time was spent on activities directly related interference with their work tasks (eg breaks, lunches, meetings, reading, surfing the web, e-mail, mail, telephone, travel between appointments, etc)?
2 HOURS
C. Enter the number of hours during the day on its five priorities (enter "0" if you work on something) and then calculate the number issued in accordance with equation shown:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- HOURS – - – - – - – EXPANDED
-
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-
1 Priority (1 / THD) X 1.00 = 0.125
Priority 2 (1 / THD) X 0.90 = 0.1125
Priority 3 (0 / THD) X 0.80 = 0
Priority 4 (0 / THD) X 0.70 = 0
Priority 5 (4 / THD) X 0.60 = 0.3
- Add EXTENDED numbers of the five priorities: 0.5375
(This is the "effectiveness" rating)
PRODUCTIVITY = X EFFICIENCY EFFICIENCY
Let's put all together now and calculate our productivity. Let's start first with our example, suppose you had a pretty good job day and our assessment of efficiency (As defined in step # 1) was 0.75. When multiplied against our success rate, we get 0.403125.
Then we will calculate your numbers:
__________ Efficiency (# 1)
X_________ EFFICIENCY (from # 4)
__________ PRODUCTIVITY
WHAT IT MEANS THIS?
This is just a simple example. It is far from scientific (for example, the efficiency ratio is crudely estimated without any level accuracy). However, the number of productivity highlights the differences between efficiency and effectiveness. Using the numbers in our example, if we to use a perfect 1.00 grade-efficiency (compared with 0.75), number of worker productivity there would be no greater than 0.5375. This is that the worker spent time interference / distractions and worked on other priorities that maybe I should not have.
I've seen companies like efficiency indices and plot a graph, but as far as I'm concerned the data is misleading, since only a vision of a much larger picture. Plotting the efficiency rating is as important as the efficiency ratio and helps produce a productivity realistic.
CONCLUSION
Some workers, especially craftsmen, understand the differences between efficiency and effectiveness. They appreciate the overall process for building something and are well aware the potential for cutting corners. Some just do not understand (and probably never will). For example, common IT industry does not understand this concept and is obsessed with efficiency. As proof, consider using "Agile" today that are quick and dirty methods to write a program. Here, rudimentary program develops,
then radically refined over time until the client signs-off operation. Proponents maintain Agile be a quantum leap in productivity. I do not. It is true that you can write code fast, but because they are well structured, a lot of time is devoted to the design review and rewriting code, not just once but several times. Instead of doing things right the first time, agile methodologies are based on the efficiency of its programming power tools that look good.
So what is a good productivity classification? First Instead, let's dispense with the notion of a 100% productivity. This is purely a myth. This would mean that everyone in a company is being both highly effective and efficient throughout the day. This is simply not possible. Our example below shows a productivity of 40%, which is probably closer to reality. In fact, 25% is considered a good score and is typical of many companies.
If this work has not only increased their awareness of the differences between efficiency and efficiency, then it has served its purpose. Hopefully it will refocus its efforts on "doing things right" instead of just "doing things right. "
Therefore, how "effective" are you today? Your answer will say much.
As a footnote, If familiar with my writings on "PRIDE" Project Management, who have heard me talk about "effectiveness rate" to distinguish the use of time. What I'm describing here is not the same, similar, but not quite. Under the Stage Management Project "efficiency rate" is a qualification for availability used to estimate and plan, but not for calculating productivity.
About the Author
Tim Bryce is the Managing Director of M. Bryce & Associates (MBA) of Palm Harbor, Florida, a management consulting firm specializing in Information Resource Management (IRM). Mr. Bryce has over 30 years of experience in the field. He is available for training and consulting on an international basis. His corporate web page is at:
http://www.phmainstreet.com/mba/
He can be contacted at: timb001@phmainstreet.com
Copyright © 2006 MBA. All rights reserved.
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