Efficiency vs. effectiveness in business - Asana

In his book, The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker stated that “efficiency is doing things right, effectiveness is doing the right thing.” ... Resources|Productivity|Efficiencyvs.effectivenessinbusines...Efficiencyvs.effectivenessinbusiness:WhyyourteamneedsbothJuliaMartinsMarch11th,2021•5minreadfacebooktwitterlinkedinJumptosectionWhatisefficiency?Whatiseffectiveness?Whichismoreimportant?HowimprovingeffectivenessleadstoincreasedefficiencyBuildingateamthat’sefficient and effectiveOutwiththeinefficientandineffective,inwiththenewIfyou’veneverthoughtaboutthedifferencebetweenefficiencyandeffectiveness,you’renotalone—infact,mostteamsusethesetermsinterchangeably.Butunderstandingthedifferencebetweenthesetwobusinessstrategiescanhelpyourteamsucceed.Inhisbook, TheEffectiveExecutive, PeterDrucker stated that“efficiencyisdoingthingsright,effectivenessisdoingtherightthing.”Ideally,youwanttobuildateamthat’sbothefficientandeffective—afterall,everyonewantstodotherightthingsright.Tofindthatsweetspot,startbyunderstandingwhateachtermmeansandwhenyoushouldfocusoneachmetric.Whatisefficiency?Efficiencymeansdoingthings“right”—whetherthatmeansmovingfaster,gettingworkdonewithfewerresources,accomplishingbigprojectswithasmallerbudget,orotherwisedoing“more”with“less.”Ingeneral,efficientteams:Runprocess-drivenprojectsBuildresourcemanagementplansEmbraceautomationSucceedwithlimitedresourcesFocusontheworkdirectlyinfrontofthemMeasureprogressagainstspecificmetricsWhatiseffectiveness?Effectivenessmeansworkingonthe“right”things—thatistosay,thingsthatdrivebusinessvalueandmovetheneedleoncompanygoals.Today,fewteamsareeffectiveatconnectingtheircurrentworktobroadercompanygoals.Inarecent studyofover6,000knowledgeworkers,only26%ofemployeesreportedhavingaveryclearunderstandingofhowtheirindividualworkrelatestocompanygoalsandjust16%saidtheircompanyisveryeffectiveatsettingandcommunicatinggoals.Effectiveteamsknowhowtosuccessfullyprioritizeanddedicateappropriateresourcestoimportantinitiatives.Theyhaveaclearsenseofhowtheirworkfitsintothelargercompanystrategyandgoals,andtheyusethisknowledgetoinformwhattoworkonandwheretodedicatetheirresources.Ingeneral,effectiveteams:Aregoal-orientedInvestinresultsFocusonthecustomerorenduserConnecttheirworktothebigpictureWhichismoreimportant?Inordertorunatrulygreatteam,youneedefficiencyandeffectiveness.Anefficientteamthatisn’teffectiveisgettingworkdonequickly—buttheymaybeprioritizingthewronginitiatives.Alternatively,aneffectiveteamthatisn’tefficientisgettingtherightworkdone—butnotattheidealvelocity.Imagineyoursalesteamispitchingyourproducttoanewenterpriseclient.TheITdepartmenthasgotteninvolved,andthey’veaskedforapitchanddemofromeachofthethreeproductsthey’reconsideringimplementing.Here’showtheprocessmightpanoutdependingonwhetheryourteamisefficient,effective,neither,orboth:Efficientbutnoteffective: Theteambuildsadeckanddemoinjustthreedays.Butoncetheypresent,thepotentialclientisdissatisfiedbecausethecontentfocusedonthewrongthings.Ultimately,thepresentationmaterialsdidn’tspeaktotheirspecificcompanyneeds.Theydecidetogoinadifferentdirection.Notefficientbuteffective: Theteamworkstogethertobuildastate-of-the-artdemoanddeck,butittakesthemtwoweeks.Thecustomerisdissatisfiedwithhowmuchtimeittooktohearbackfromyourteam.Youspendseveralmoreweeksnegotiatingandpitching.Neitherefficientnoreffective: Theteamhasn’tfullybuiltouttheirsalesprocesses,sonooneisclearonwho’screatingthedeckordemo.Ultimately,theteamisabletoscrapesomethingtogether,butitdoesn’tspeaktothetruevalueofyourproductorcommunicateyourcompetitivepositiontotheclient.Theydecidetogoinadifferentdirection.Efficientandeffective: Theteamhasaclearworkflowinplaceandisabletobuildadeckanddemoinfivedays.Thenextweek,thepitchhasthedesiredresult:theclientdecidestomoveforwardwithyourproduct!HowimprovingeffectivenessleadstoincreasedefficiencyIdeally,youwanttobuildateamthatisbothefficientandeffective.Butyouhavetostartfromsomewhere—andtryingtoimplementbothmethodologiesatoncemightnotgetyouthedesiredeffect.So,startbysolvingforeffectivenessbeforeworkingonefficiency.Byprioritizingeffectiveness,you’reensuringthatyourteamisworkingoninitiativesthatmovetheneedletowardsrelevantcompanygoals.Then,onceyou’vedevelopedeffectivenessasapractice,youcanoptimizeforefficiency—inotherwords,doingthesameeffectiveworkinlesstime.Take,forexample,across-functionalprojectbetweenthecreativeandwebdesignteams.Thegoalistoredesignthecompanyhomepagetobettercommunicatethecompanyvalueprop.Atfirst,theteamisneithereffectivenorefficient.Theydon’thaveclarityonwhatvaluepropthey’recommunicating,howitbenefitstheircustomers,orwhatmessagingtoprioritizeonthehomepage.Theteamstartsbytakingstepstosolveforeffectivenessandgeteveryoneonthesamepage.Theyinvestina workmanagementplatform tocoordinateinformationacrossvariouslevelsoftheirorganizationandconnectindividualinitiativestobroader companygoals.Withanincreasedunderstandingofthebig-picturestrategy,theteamisabletocreateahomepagethatbestrepresentstheircompanyandservestheircustomers.Theteamisn’tfullyefficientyet—ittookawhileforthemtogettheprojectupandrunning,andthereviewprocesstooklongerthantheywanteditto.Butbyfocusingoneffectiveness,theyensuredthattheir projectdeliverable wasinlinewiththecompanygoals.Thenextstepistogetfasterandmoreefficient.Buildingateamthat’sefficient and effectiveUltimately,thegoalistohelpyourteambecomebothefficientandeffective.Doingsomeansyourteamcanseethebigpicturewhilealsoprioritizingvelocityand productivity.Whilethefirststepistomaximizeeffectiveness,thereareseveralstepsyoucantaketosupportyourteaminbuildingefficientandeffectivebestpractices.1.StartbyconnectinggoalstoeverydayworkYourteamcan’tbeeffectivewithoutunderstandinghowtheirworkimpactstheircompanygoals.Makesuretheyhaveclearvisibilityintohowtheyarecontributingtoyour company’smissionandvision.Thebestwaytodothatiswithaworkmanagementtool.Workmanagement helpsyoucoordinatepeopleandworkacrossalllevelsofyourorganizationtoensurethateveryonehastheinformationtheyneedtoaccomplishtheworkthatmattersmost.Insteadofsiloedtasksandprojects,workmanagementtoolscanhelpyoubridgethegapbetweendailytasksandbroadercompanyobjectives.Thatway,yourteamcaneffectivelyprioritizetaskstomaximizebusinessvalue,insteadofsinkingtimeintolow-prioritywork.Toensurewe’reprioritizingtherightwork,weuseOKRstosetquarterlygoalsthatladderuptobi-annualgoals.Onaweeklycadence,ourteamleadsmakesurethattheworktheteamisdoingladdersuptothesegoals.”—BadrulFarooqi,ProductManager,FigmaRead:Introductiontoworkmanagement2.Increasecross-functionalvisibilityEffectiveteamsdon’tworkinsilos.Tosetyourteamupforsuccess,makesuretheyhaveanunderstandingofhowtheirworkrelatestootherinitiativesandprojects.Wheneveryonehasvisibilityintowho’sdoingwhatbywhen,teammemberscanspendlesstimecoordinatingworkandmoretimeonhigh-impactprojects.Accountability,visibility,anddiscoverabilityareadvantagesthatcomefromproperprojectmanagementandusingtherighttools. ”—JoëlSt-Pierre,HeadofPMO,GlobalCustomerEvents,Autodesk3.InvestinautomationandintegrationOnceyourteamhasahandleoneffectiveness,it’stimetoincreaseefficiency.Onewaytodothisistoautomatemanualorduplicativeworkthroughbusinessprocessautomation(BPA).Accordingtothe AnatomyofWorkIndex,theaverageknowledgeworkerspends60%oftheirtimeonworkaboutwork—thingslikechasingapprovals,searchingforinformation,orduplicatingworkthat’salreadybeencompleted.By automatingmanualprocesses,youfreeupmoretimeforyourteamtospendonstrategic,skilledlabor.With[automation],wenowsave2-6stepsforeachofour40-50customerrequestspersprintbecausetasksareautomaticallyaddedtootherprojectsandmovedthrougheachstage.”—JoshMitchell,DirectorofEngagementsforProfessionalServices,GoSpotCheckInadditiontoworkaboutwork,knowledgeworkerslosecriticaltimeswitchingbetweenappsandsearchingforinformation. Researchshows thatknowledgeworkersswitchbetween10appsupto25timesperday.Toooften,ourbusinesstoolscan’tspeaktooneanother,whichmeansemployeeshavetoswitchbetweenemail,messagingplatforms,function-specifictools,and projectmanagementsoftware.Instead,lookforawayto integrate yourmostimportantbusinesstools,soyouhaveaccesstoallofyourimportantinformationinoneplace.Yourfavoritetoolsinoneplace4.IdentifyareasforimprovementInordertobeefficient,youneedtounderstandwherethelagis.Whenworkisoverdueorteammembersareoverworked,pinpointingthosestresspointsearlyoncanhelpyoureevaluateandredistributeresourcesifnecessary.Developingaclearprocesstoflagandidentifyareasforimprovementcanhelpyourteambeproactive,insteadofreactive.Thisnotonlyincreasesefficiency—sinceyou’reremovingunnecessarywork—butitalsoboostseffectivenessbyhelpingyourteambemoremindfulaboutyourwork.Thestandardofourcreativeteam,forawhile,wasjusttoreacttowork.Butwe’llneverdothebestworkwepossiblycanwithoutaclearprocess.”—JoeTornatzky,ArtDirector,GearPatrolAsforhowyoucangetthere?Makesureeveryinitiativehasregularcheck-inswhereyoucanshareprojectprogressandanyblockers.Don’tschedulethisworkasameeting—instead,share projectstatusreports inthesameplaceyouwork,soyoucanquicklyscantoseewhat’sofftrackandreadjustasneeded.Outwiththeinefficientandineffective,inwiththenewBuildinganefficientandeffectiveteamwilltaketime.Togetthere,startbyfocusingoneffectivenessandempoweringyourteamwithclarityintocompanygoalsandpriorities.Thenfocusonefficiencybyinvestinginautomationandreducingworkaboutwork.Interestedinlearningmore?Get 12tipstobemoreproductivetoday.RelatedresourcesArticleWhatisdeepwork?7rulestoboostconcentrationArticleBoostproductivityandclaritywithworkschedulesArticleHowtofocus:TipstogetthingsdoneinadistractedworldArticleSelf-management:7skillstobecomeabetterleader