The Sunday Feed
Efficiency — The key to success!
Productivity is doing the right things and efficiency is doing things right. Assuming that you are doing the right things, let’s now focus on doing things right.
Essentially meaning that completing all jobs on time without compromising on quality.
I have always been an advocate of simplifying things so that more of what we learn can be applied to everyday activities. So let’s look at top 8 things to improve efficiency.
1. Have a clear understanding of the bigger picture
a. Vision: What you want to do for ever
b. Mission: What you want to achieve in 3 years
c. Objective: A one year plan
d. Goal: A quarterly target
2. Effective communication
a. Say what you want to say
b. Mention what you expect from the reader
c. Clearly outline the deadlines for each job
d. Ask them to write back with their understanding of the letter
3. Match task and skill
a. Let the IT do the IT
b. Understand individual limitations
c. Ask people if they want to be involved in a special project, sometimes people have skills we are not aware of.
d. Revisit people’s resume, they are not something that should be lying idle in the files.
4. Don’t be afraid to delegate
a. Everyone can work for 10 hours at best on any given day
b. We often tend to overestimate ourselves on many skills. Actually, we suck!
c. Don’t try to save on cost by doing the job yourself, you might end up wasting a lot of executive time.
d. Delegate with responsibility and accountability
5. Have clarity in goals and objectives
a. Use the SMART principle
b. Start every meeting with the goal in mind
c. Remind people everyday that doing unrelated jobs will take us backwards.
d. Always follow up a conversation with a written minutes
6. Reward Employees
a. Do not reward individuals, it creates rifts! Reward everyone!
b. Give small but consistent bonus
c. Give them added benefits like health and life insurance
d. Genuinely compliment the employees for their hard work. Emotions have higher value than currency.
7. Give them flexibility
a. Let them work from home if they feel like
b. Deliberately ignore when they come late to office but let them know, you are aware of it.
c. Let them have long lunches on Friday. After all, what is money for?
d. Let them have coffee in meetings, a sip of caffeine can motivate them to participate actively!
8. Give them a social set up
a. Have more staff than required. The more the merrier!
b. Give them a fun environment
c. Let them socialise. Work will move faster.
d. Go for lunches/ dinners as often as you can
Anyone can talk but it takes a great deal of maturity to communicate. Words are words and can be interpreted differently by people with different levels of understanding and wisdom.
Efficiency can be improved with deliberation. A system that helps measure efficiency will help a great deal in improving your performance. Even if it means maintaining a humble diary!
John Khalkho
CEO: Dolores Education
Photo: Yan Kurkov