Efficiency, effectiveness, and how to achieve both | RingCentral

High effectiveness/High efficiency ... The Holy Grail of productivity—effective and efficient teams are both delivering work that has the maximum ... 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Let’sstartatthebeginning.Forsmallbusinesses,theopportunityandchallengehasneverbeengreater.Technologyhasleveledtheplayingfieldandhelpedsmallerorganizationscapturemarketsharefromindustryheavyweights.Foreveryproduct,service,orsolutiononthemarket,there’sawayofdeliveringitsmarter,faster,orcheaper. Butinordertocompete,smallbusinessesneedtoaccomplishtwothings:theyneedtodomorethingsquickly,andtheyneedtohavethethingstheydocarrymoreofanimpact.Or,theyneedtobebothefficientandeffective. Let’slookatwhatbothofthesetermsmean. Efficiency,explainedefficiently Efficiencyistheabilitytoproducesomethingwithminimaltime,effort,orresources. Effectiveness,explainedeffectively Asasmallbusiness,youprobablyhavealotofoutputs—sales,locations,customersserved,customersatisfaction,andemployeesatisfactionareafewthatyoumightmeasure.Thereareanumberofdifferentinputsyoucanusetoinfluencethoseoutputs—marketingcampaigns,customerservicestandards,andemployeewellnesscampaignscanallimpacthowthoseoutputsperform. Effectivenesslooksathowimpactfulthosevariousinputsare,basedonoutcomes. Forexample,let’ssayyourusualmarketingcampaignscontribute$10,000inrevenuetoyourbusiness,onaverage.Butyourlatestmarketingcampaigndelivers$100,000.Basedonthereturnsoverwhatwasexpected,itwouldbeeasytoconcludethatyournewmarketingcampaignwaseffective. Inshort,ifsomethingisdonequicklyorwithminimalresources,it’sefficient.Ifit’sdonewell,it’seffective.Subtledifferences,tobesure,buthowyouoptimizeforeachcanhaveadramaticimpactonyourbusiness. Whythedifferencematters Efficiencyandeffectivenesscanbothhavebigtimeimpactsonbusinessoutputs—butwhenitcomestooptimizingforeach,therearesubtledifferences. Whenoptimizingforefficiency,focusonvolume.Whenoptimizingforeffectiveness,focusonimpact. Forsmallbusinesseswithlimitedresourcesandhumancapitaltosolveproblems,they’reprobablytornoverwhichareatofocusonfirst.Doyouwanttogetmoredonewithwhatyouhave,ordoyouwantthethingsyoudotobemoreimpactful?Tounderstand,let’slookattheoutcomefordifferentcombinationsofthetwomeasurements: Lowefficiency/Loweffectiveness Thisistheabsoluteworstplacetobe.Ineffectiveprojectscarriedoutwithpoorefficiencymeanyourorganizationisburningpreciousresources,whetherit’stime,money,oreffort,onprojectsthatdon’tevencontributetoyourbusinessgoals.Inordertoliftyourselfoutofthisquadrant,projectsneedtobeoptimizedforefficiencyoreffectiveness(orboth!) Highefficiency/Loweffectiveness Nowwe’regettingsomewhere.Projectsinthisquadrantmightnotresultinthehighestimpacttothebusiness,butatleastthey’rebeingdoneefficiently(thoughwedon’tknowmanybusinessownersthatwouldcalltheefficientpursuitofnothingawin). Alotofcompaniescanendupoccupyingthisquadrantunintentionally—eitherbecausethey’remeasuringthewrongmetrics(suchasfocusingsolelyonoutput)orbecausetheyaren’tmeasuringthematall.Attheveryleast,workperformedinthisquadrantwon’tburnthroughcompanyresourcesasquicklyaslowefficiencyprojects. Higheffectiveness/Lowefficiency Gettingwarmer.Theseprojectsstillcomeatanenormouscosttothebusinessintermsofresources,butatleastthey’recontributinginameaningfulway.Workcompletedhereisperformedinefficiently—eitherduetothewrongprocesses,people,ortools—butispursuingtherightbusinessgoalsandhavingtheexpectedimpact. Themajorityofproductivityimprovementsseemtofocusonthisarea,assumingthatbusinessesareatleastchasingtherightgoals(notalwaystrue!) Higheffectiveness/Highefficiency TheHolyGrailofproductivity—effectiveandefficientteamsarebothdeliveringworkthathasthemaximumimpactanddoingsowithlesstime,money,andenergythanexpected.Cost-consciousbusinesses(whichshouldbeallofthem)shouldbeoptimizingteamstoworkinthisquadrantasoftenaspossible—deliveringimpactfulworkwithminimalresources. 3tipsforimprovingeffectiveness Soyouwanttobeamoreeffectivebusiness—wecan’tsayweblameyou.Bymaximizingeffectiveness,you’llbeabletoenableyourteamstodomorewithlessandmakesurethateverythingshippedoutthedoorisintheserviceofhavingagreaterimpactonbusinessoutcomes.Herearethreetipsthatcanhelp. 1.Knowyournumbers Isyourgoalhighercustomersatisfaction?Lowercostofacquisition?Greateremployeeengagement?Regardlessofwhatthey’reafter,effectivebusinessesknowtheirnumbersinsideandoutandpursuethemreligiously.Theymakesuregoalsareclearlycommunicatedcompany-wideandthatteamsarecollaboratinginpursuitofthem. Usebusinessdashboardsandmetricsreportingtokeeptabsonyourobjectives,andempoweremployeestobealwaysasking“Howcanwedothisbetter?” Usemoderncommunicationtoolstohelpkeepstaffaligned,wherevertheymightbelocated.Forexample,RingCentralhasamobileappthatletsyoumakevideocalls,phonecalls,andevensendinstantmessagestoyourteam: Makevideocalls,phonecalls,andevensendinstantmessagestoyourteamusingRingCentralmobileapp Constantlytestandexperimenttofigureoutwhichinitiativesaredeliveringthegreatestresults—thentestagain.Becausethemosteffectivebusinessesaren’tjusttheonesthatknowthenumbersthatmatterandchasethem,they’retheonesthatarecontinuallylookingforwaystodothingsbetter. 2.Investineducation Oneofthebestwaystomakesureyourheadcountishavinganoversizedimpactistokeeplevelinguptheirskillsthroughongoingeducation.Whetherthatmeansinternaleducationandenablementorspringingforcoursesandconferences,developingyouremployeescanturnanybusinessintoaneffectiveone. Afterall,anindividualemployeeisrelativelystatic—they’llalwayscountasonepersonontheheadcount,regardlessoftheircontributions.Butbyinvestingindevelopment,youcanmultiplytheoutputfromindividualemployeessothattheyhaveagreaterimpactonthebusiness. Inadditiontoindividualemployeecontributions,investingintraininganddevelopmentcanalsohaveaprofoundeffectonemployeeretentionandsatisfaction—andhelpyoumaximizeyourinvestmentinyourstaff. 3.Communicatebetter Communicationisthelifebloodofanybusiness.Regardlessofwhetheryou’reC-Suiteorafreshhire,howbusinessgoals,objectives,mission,values,andperformancearecommunicatedacrosstheorganizationcanhaveamassiveimpactonbusinessperformance.Whendiscussing“effectiveness”inabusinesscontext,thenumberonetopiciseffectivecommunication.Communicatingeffectivelycanmakeallyourotherbusinessoutputsflowmoresmoothly. Pro-tip: Tocommunicateeffectively,werecommendmakingcommunicationeasyandtwo-way—andenablingittotakeplaceoften.Moderncommunicationtoolssuchasmessagingappsandvideoconferencingsoftwarecanhelpyousolveallthreeofthesepoints. 3tipsforimprovingefficiency Nowthatyou’recommunicatingeffectivelyandpursuingtherightorganizationgoals,it’stimetodothosethingsmoreefficientlyorinawaythatcostslesstime,money,andeffort,freeingstaffuptoinvestmoreresourcesinpursuingnewobjectives. 1.Limitinterruptions Interruptionsarethegreatkillerofefficiencyinanybusiness.Theeffectsofinterruptionsinbusinessarewell-documented:ittakesemployeesupto25minutestoreturntoatasktheywereworkingonpriortobeinginterrupted;a2.8secondinterruptioncandoubleemployeeerrorrates;andcollectively,interruptionscosttheUSeconomy$588billionayear. Forbusinessestobeasefficientaspossible,interruptionsneedtobelimitedasmuchashumanly(orrobotically)possible.Thisiswherecommunicationtoolscanplayahugerole—byusingmodernchattools,employeesareabletocommunicateasynchronously(notconcurrently)orinrealtimeasrequired. Ratherthancontinuallybombardstaffwithinterruptions,theycannowrespondontheirownschedule.Voicecallsorvideoconferencingcanhelpyoumakedecisionsquicklyandeffectively,comparedtorelyingonemail(whichcontinuallyranksnearthetopofemployeeinterruptions,and,asanyonewho’sspenttimeonanemailthreadcanattest,takesforevertogetanythingaccomplished). Abademail.Source:CBSNews 2.Automateaway EvenintheageofAIandtaskautomation,employeesarestillwastingasurprisingamountoftimeonmanualandrepetitivetasks.Infact,arecentstudyfoundthatover40%ofworkerssurveyedspentatleastaquarteroftheirworkweekontasksthatcouldbeautomated,withdatacollection,approvals,andstatusupdaterequestsoccupyingthemajorityoftheirtime. Businessesnolongerhaveexcusesfornotautomatingtheseprocesses.Doingsowillfreeemployeesuptoworkonprojectsandtasksthatwillyieldgreaterresultsthanendlessstatusupdaterequests.Lettingsoftwareorprogramstakecareofthemanual,repetitivetaskscansavebusinessesupto$4millionannually. Pro-tip: UsetoolslikeRingCentraltoautomateandstreamlinethewayyourteamcommunicates,andlinkupyourappswitheachotherusingsomethinglikeZapier,whichcreatesneatworkflowsthatsaveyoufromdoingrepetitivetaskslikeupdatinginformationfromoneapptoanother. 3.Embracethetelecommute Afteryearsofbusinessownersbeingremoteworkskeptics,thestatisticsaretellingadifferentstory.Employeeswhoworkfromhomeare13%moreproductivethanofficeemployees,likelyduetofewerinterruptionsandnotbeingrequiredtocommute.Employeeswhoworkfromhomework1.4moredayseachmonththantheirin-officecounterparts,duetolesssickandlatetimeandworkingaflexibleschedulethroughouttheday. Inadditiontotheproductivityandefficiencygainsdocumentedregardingtelecommuting,italsohasaprofoundimpactonemployeesatisfactionandwellness—improvingjobsatisfactionby8%andsatisfactionwithwork-lifebalanceby5%. Efficiencyvseffectiveness:whynotboth? Effectivenessandefficiencymaylooksimilaronthesurface(andarefrequentlyusedinterchangeablyinabusinesscontext),butthey’rebothverydifferentleversthatbusinessescanusetodriveresults. Byfocusingonimprovingboth,you’llbeabletoachievegreatersuccess,remaincompetitive,andgetmoreforless. OriginallypublishedMar02,2020,updatedApr18,2021 Upnext Smallbusiness,SMBproductivity Choosingtherightproductivitysystem:aguideforsmallbusinesses Ifyou’reanemployeeatasmallormedium-sizedbusiness,you’reprobablyfocusedonbeingasproductiveaspossible.Afterall,you’rethelittleguy—aDavidinaworldfullofGoliaths. Andasweallknow,Daviddidn’ttoppleGoliathbybeingbiggerorstronger—hediditbybeingmoreefficient.Butwithouta... Learnmore Share URLcopied ThankyouforyourinterestinRingCentral. 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