deepstash
Beta
The Right Way to Measure Productivity (and Why It’s Harder Than it Seems)
Big-Picture and Fine-Grained Detailed
A dimension in measuring productivity is looking at the big picture or fine-grained details.
- The big picture: Looking back over the years, how much difference did it make?
- Fine-grained means adding up the hours worked, which gives an immediate measure of progress.
But there is a trade-off. The big picture is slow to measure and may only be visible in the long run.
206 SAVES
This is a professional note extracted from an online article.
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
IDEA EXTRACTED FROM:
5
Key Ideas
Measuring Productivity: Input vs. Output
There are two extremes of evaluating productivity: Input vs. Output
- Input: The salaryman works long hours and is mostly judged on input. The person is judged by his loyalty and commitment to the company.
- Output: The person is entirely measured on output. His work doesn't track his hours. Repeatedly failing to meet deadlines would get him fired.
Only Judging Outputs
Some consultants are paid when the company profits go up, but no money is owed when there is no profit.
But, early management theorists noticed just having a consultant made people work harder. A consultant can make a fortune, even though the advice is worthless. The problem with the pay-for-results consultant is that the payment comes too soon. An extended period could give better insight.
Big-Picture and Fine-Grained Detailed
A dimension in measuring productivity is looking at the big picture or fine-grained details.
- The big picture: Looking back over the years, how much difference did it make?
- Fine-grained means adding up the hours worked, which gives an immediate measure of progress.
But there is a trade-off. The big picture is slow to measure and may only be visible in the long run.
How to Measure Productivity
What matters most is often the hardest to track. We then measure things we don't care about with the hope that it will give some clarity. The solution:
- Pick a few metrics that will estimate what matters. The metrics should be easy to measure and timely enough to give good feedback. Rewarding only hours may mean paying for a lot of overtime and not much useful work.
- Use meta-feedback to tune your short-term metrics. Your big-picture output is harder and slower to measure, but it serves a role in regularly adjusting which of the short-term metrics will estimate progress. For example, if you track the number of essays written for your productivity, it may be good initially, but the quality may suffer in time. Following the articles' results can indicate if "hours per essay" should also become a metric.
Dynamic Measurements
Instead of relying on a fixed standard, regularly tweak and adapt what you measure.
Changing what you're measuring may seem like a drawback, but it really makes your work more robust. Meta-feedback on what you measure stops you from reaching a fragile solution.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
11
Key Ideas
Measuring Employee Productivity
Fixing employee productivity in the industrial age, when most workers were handling machinery and it’s parts, was a tedious but doable process. The managers had to fix the people who were making mi...
The Old Productivity Formula
The basic productivity formula(productivity= output divided by input) worked well in the industrial age as the output and input were clearly defined and measurable.
Today’s leaders need innovative solutions to measure and improve productivity in a knowledge-based workplace, as the measurement of output and input is not what it was.
Quality And Quantity
While assigning value to the output of knowledge workers, we cannot simply measure the output like before.
Coders and doctors cannot be measured by the hour, as their output is not uniform or consistent every hour.
8 more ideas
11
Key Ideas
What Deep Work Is
A process of performing “professional activities…in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve ...
Shallow work
The non-cognitively demanding, logistical-style tasks, often performed while distracted, tend not to create much new value in the world and are easy to replicate.
Recognizing our limited willpower
...is the first element of deep work.
That means you won’t have the mental discipline to stay concentrated on a single task unless you prepare your mind and environment to it.
8 more ideas
6
Key Ideas
Your Desk
Put your monitor high enough to keep your neck straight, s...
Organization
A cluttered desk sometimes triggers a cluttered mind. That's why everything should have its place, even if that place is just “the right-most stack.” A desk system that matches your personal organization style saves both time and headache.
Colors
- Red accelerates the heart rate, giving you a jolt of energy. Your eye is instantly drawn to red, and it promotes physical activity and emotion.
- Orange is a social color, encouraging interaction. It works well in meeting rooms or other social spaces.
- Yellow stimulates creativity and optimism.
- Green is calming, and also causes zero eye strain over long periods of time.
- Blue is calming and stable, it helps most people focus on intensive tasks.
- Purple stimulates problem solving, despite not being a very popular color in workspace decor.
3 more ideas