Productivity and efficiency: Differences and how to optimize them

11 de July, 2024

The concepts of productivity and efficiency are often confused. However, although they are related, they are different ways of measuring the work of a company’s employees.

Discover with us the difference between productivity and efficiency and learn some tips for optimizing them in your work.

What is productivity? And efficiency?

Productivity refers to the quantity of goods produced, or number of tasks completed, over a given period of time.

Efficiency, meanwhile, refers to the number of resources needed to produce a particular item or complete a task. It relates to a worker’s ability to produce more with less waste of resources.

Difference between productivity and efficiency

It can be said that while productivity is focused on quantity, efficiency is focused on quality. This is because productivity refers precisely to the amount of work that is completed during a period, as opposed to efficiency, which measures the ability to do the same amount of work with fewer resources (whether human, physical or financial, for example).

So productivity and efficiency are different metrics and are evaluated in different ways:

To measure productivity, time is a constant variable and what varies is output, i.e. the number of tasks completed or goods produced. For example, let’s imagine a company that translates books in which employees work 8 hours a day. These professionals are more productive the more chapters they can translate in 8 hours.
To measure efficiency, it is the output – the task accomplished – that is the constant variable and what varies is the number of resources needed to achieve this result. In the case of a translation company, the resources could be, in addition to the human capital itself, dictionaries, online translation tools, computer equipment, among others. The fewer resources a worker needs to use for the same number of translated chapters, the more efficient they are.

These two metrics are related, but they often compromise each other: good productivity can mean less efficiency, while a good level of efficiency can reduce productivity.

However, by adopting some good practices in your working method, you can optimize both.

Tips for optimizing productivity and efficiency

1 – Try to manage your time well

Professionals who manage their time better are more productive and also more efficient. One approach that many experts believe leads to more effective time management is dividing daily working time into blocks.

According to this perspective, workers should divide their day into blocks of time, each dedicated to one task. For example, a person working in the sales area might set a block for viewing and responding to customer emails, another block for making calls, and another block for operational work to close and activate contracts.

By having a list of tasks established at the outset, and an estimated time allocated to each one, you no longer have to decide which tasks to focus your attention on. This reduces the risk of procrastination and multitasking.

To better manage your time at work, you can also count on various apps and platforms that can help you be more organized and disciplined.

2 – Reduce distractions

Whether you’re remote or working in person at your workplace, there can be many distractions throughout the day. From messages on your cell phone, to social media alerts, to background noise from colleagues or family members at home, among many others.

According to the 2023Work Trend Index Annual Report, 68% of workers surveyed say they don’t have enough time for uninterrupted concentration during their working day.

And if some external distracting factors are harder to get around – such as colleagues making calls or having meetings, the noise of printers or other equipment, cars with sirens going off outside, children at home crying or pets interacting with you, for example – there are other situations in which it’s more within your power to stay focused:

Divide large projects into smaller tasks and define a to-do list for your day in advance;
Block sites that can typically lead you to become more distracted, such as social networks, shopping sites, online games, etc;
Disable cell phone notifications during working hours;
Set times to take breaks so you can recharge your batteries;
Try to surround yourself with colleagues who tend to be more productive.

3 – Focus on one task at a time

Contrary to what you might think, people’s ability to multitask – to perform two or more tasks simultaneously – can lead them to work less productively and less efficiently.

Multitasking tends to harm productivity and efficiency as it leads to greater distraction and can lead to more errors, which could be avoided if the worker concentrated on a single task at a time.

4 – Get away from the idea of perfection

Perfection is an unattainable goal. Working towards it will waste more time and lead to stress and anxiety. As a result, your productivity and efficiency levels will drop.

Don’t neglect your perfectionism, commitment and effort, but try to set realistic and achievable goals. Focus on your progress and small successes rather than striving for perfection.

5 – Delegate tasks

Some people tend to focus too much work on themselves. When you’re too busy, or when you know that someone else is better able to do a certain task, ask for help.

If you have this decision-making power, delegate tasks directly to other colleagues. If you don’t have this responsibility, let your line manager know that you need to share the workload.

Reducing your workload will allow you to focus more on the tasks at hand and therefore more productively and efficiently.

6 – Make the most of technology

It’s impossible to talk about productivity and efficiency without talking about automation. Automating tasks, especially routine and repetitive ones, is one of the main drivers of more efficient work.

Depending on your role, this could mean scheduling automatic emails to candidates and employees, scheduling social media posts, scheduling meetings, generating team performance reports and alerts, among many other possibilities.

When these more operational tasks become automatic, professionals can focus their attention on more strategic issues for the business. Not only does it take them less time to do their work – they are more productive – but they do it with greater added value for the organization – and therefore more efficiently.

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