Let’s say your company can process 40 documents per hour. A company focused on productivity would try to increase the number of documents they can produce in that hour.

So, your people have worked hard and are now able to scan a total of 50 documents per hour. They have jus...

• Productivity Formula

Total Output / Total Input = Labor Productivity

• Efficiency Formula

(Standard Labor Hours / Amount of Time Worked) x 100 = Efficiency

Let’s say your company, which can now process 50 documents per hour, gets its budget slashed. Now, the company is trying to do the same amount of work (50 documents processed per hour) with fewer resources to process them. This would be the time to focus on efficiency.

If your company is efficient, that means it is especially capable of producing desired results with little or no waste with very few resources.

• If you’re able to produce the same amount of work with less time and resources, you’re being more efficient.
• If you use more time an...

In a perfect world, companies would try to be both efficient and productive. Companies should always be looking for ways to do more with what they have while doing the same amount of work with less waste.

That being said, most successful companies put their primary focus on productivity, no...