Productivity vs. Efficiency – What Are the Differences?
Last updated: December 07, 2022 Read in fullscreen view
Recommended for you
- 08 Dec 2021
What Are The 4 Types of Maintenance Strategies? 774 - 01 Oct 2020 Fail fast, learn faster with Agile methodology 753
- 13 May 2022 IT Training and Development: The most effective options for upskilling IT staff 724
- 02 Dec 2022 3 Levels of Quality in KANO Analysis Model 704
- 14 Oct 2021 Advantages and Disadvantages of Time and Material Contract (T&M) 633
- 10 Dec 2021 What is a Kano Analysis? 610
- 18 Oct 2020 How to use the "Knowns" and "Unknowns" technique to manage assumptions 592
- 19 Oct 2021 Is gold plating good or bad in project management? 576
- 03 Nov 2022 Questions and answers about Kano Model 524
- 08 Oct 2022 KPI - The New Leadership 485
- 14 Oct 2021 Stream Story - Low land stream or fast moving stream? 464
- 13 Oct 2021 What is Bug Convergence? Why is it important for User Acceptance Testing (UAT)? 441
- 10 Nov 2021 Automated QA Outsourcing – Hire a Professional Software Testing Team 401
- 23 Sep 2021 INFOGRAPHIC: Top 9 Software Outsourcing Mistakes 324
- 11 Jan 2024 What are the Benefits and Limitations of Augmented Intelligence? 295
- 01 Oct 2020 Handling tight project deadlines as a business analyst 295
- 10 Dec 2023 Pain points of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) 289
- 28 Dec 2021 8 types of pricing models in software development outsourcing 286
- 28 Oct 2023 The GOLDEN Rules of Software Engineering 285
- 19 Apr 2021 7 Most Common Time-Wasters For Software Development 263
- 13 Dec 2020 Move fast, fail fast, fail-safe 253
- 31 Oct 2021 Tips to Fail Fast With Outsourcing 245
- 05 May 2021 TIGO Magic Scale - PoC tool for you to apply dichotomous thinking before submitting RFP 245
- 06 Feb 2021 Why fail fast and learn fast? 232
- 18 Aug 2022 What are the consequences of poor requirements with software development projects? 201
- 06 Nov 2019 How to Access Software Project Size? 200
- 10 Nov 2022 Poor Code Indicators and How to Improve Your Code? 177
- 07 Dec 2023 The Myths Of Requirements 163
- 26 Dec 2023 Improving Meeting Effectiveness Through the Six Thinking Hats 158
- 17 Feb 2022 Prioritizing Software Requirements with Kano Analysis 153
- 01 Mar 2023 Bug Prioritization - What are the 5 levels of priority? 148
- 11 Oct 2021 10 Myths About Low-End Project Management Software 145
- 05 Jan 2024 Easy ASANA tips & tricks for you and your team 105
- 12 Mar 2024 How do you create FOMO in software prospects? 79
- 14 Mar 2024 Why should you opt for software localization from a professional agency? 64
In any given organisation, productivity and efficiency are highly regarded. Most managers and employees get their feedback based on these two factors. But what exactly do we mean when we say productivity or efficiency? Apparently there are some questions around this topic that haven’t been answered yet.
In order to explain the differences between productivity and efficiency, we must first understand what they exactly mean. To put it in simpler terms, we are talking about differences between quantity and quality. It is nearly impossible to obtain 100% quality, while having productivity levels up at maximum. There should be a middle ground in order to optimise your results.
Both productivity and efficiency are absolutely crucial for building a fantastic work ethic. If you manage to learn how to handle both of them and what makes them distinctly important, you and your business will thrive. As a beginner, you may be tempted to focus too much on efficiency and although this isn’t a bad thing to do, understanding the key variables between efficiency and productivity is imperative.
Given the complexity of this issue, insight is required on what these two factors actually are.
Productivity
At its very core, productivity shows you the rate at which products are being developed or a task is being completed. When you are measuring productivity things get a little more complex than that. You have to take into account whether it’s physical or office work, if the job requires a certain quality factor or the impact a specific industry’s requirements may have on its workers. Nonetheless, productivity is an integral part of any successful company.
Efficiency
Efficiency is all about the comparison between what is really being produced or performed with what can be produced taking into account the same amount of resources, such as: money, time and labour. In simpler terms, efficiency measures whether there is any waste in your company. Depending on the industry you work in, efficiency may be more desirable than productivity, but usually their importance is proportionate.
Efficiency vs. Productivity
Everyone wants to be as productive as possible, but there are always problems of various sorts that keep us from getting the job done. Firstly, don’t waste more time than necessary when completing a task. Try and set your own rhythm and pace and stick to it. Try and write down every step necessary in order to complete a certain task and follow that process religiously. Once you have the whole process set in stone, you will see that the amount of time you require will steadily decrease.
Many people ask if it is possible to be productive and efficient at the same time and the answer is yes. All you have to do is analyse the task at hand and try and find out what it requires more; whether it is quantity or quality.
It all comes down to the importance of the task. As an example, let’s talk about employee enquiries towards the HR department. We all know they must be dealt with in a respectable amount of time. This type of task is considered to be more on the productive side, due to the fact that it is the same process over and over again, with the same forms and documentation that need to be filled out every time. You can finish all the enquiries quickly and with complete certainty that their quality is top notch as long as you deal with them in the correct manner.
With efficiency tasks, most often than not they do not have a precise and by the book approach. These tasks obviously require more time and a high level of due diligence. In this scenario, quality trumps quantity. Of course, every task has a deadline. But if you happen to have the misfortune of dealing with it poorly, it doesn’t necessarily matter too much. You should always work at your full potential, but given the fact that the assignment doesn’t have a methodological way of dealing with it, you have some wiggle room and the possibility to improve it.
As mentioned earlier in the article, it is very important for both productivity and efficiency to be part of your workflow. It provides you with time, expertise and discipline in order to handle distinct assignments. Balancing productivity and efficiency may seem troublesome at first, but once you find it, certain tasks will stop being such a burden on you.
In conclusion, one more idea that is important to remember is this: never sacrifice your work. If you need to do good, solid work then don’t rush it by any means, and when you are looking for quantity don’t get yourself lost in too many details. With this in mind, you can accomplish anything you want. Do the work you have to do the way it was meant to be done and never compromise. It is essential you know and understand the differences between these two practices in order to ensure your work never has to suffer again.
Explore more on these topics
Guest Blogging: The Definitive Guide
Top Trending Topics
Share This
Recently Updated News
