What is efficiency? Why work efficiently?
Efficiency work is very impactful and rewarding when done correctly and properly sustained. However, too many organizations give lip service to the tools and techniques; consequentially efficiency becomes the ‘flavour of the month’. It truly is a shame because efficiency improvements work when senior management believe and support it through ensuring compliance of the work that was implemented, changed, or eliminated. In order to support this they must understand why efficiency work is so important.
This leads me to the question, ‘Convince me efficiency works?’ I get asked this question by those who have either had negative experience with efficiency work…most likely it wasn’t sustained and become a ‘flavour of the month’ or they truly don’t understand what and why efficiency is important as a company business strategy.
So…What is efficiency?
Efficiency is doing things right. Using specific tools and techniques to improve your current ways of working so you work smarter, not harder….ultimately improving your bottom line!
Why work efficiently?
For some of you this may be a no brainer…but for companies marred in bad ways of working with multiple Band-Aid solutions, it’s not so simple. Improving efficiency allows employees to minimize the time they work on daily activities (because things are running smoothly…no more daily firefighting…yay) and can now focus their attention on special projects assigned by the organization that will assist in achieving their vision statement objectives.
So when I’m asked, “Convince me efficiency works?” I say no… because it’s not about convincing it’s about educating those individuals on the continuous improvement tools and techniques that will assist them in finding ways to become better at what they produce, service or sell.
You need to be ready to go down the path that will get you to where you want to go in less time and less effort. Efficiency improvements are not a magic pill. It’s about fixing bad habits and educating employees on why things are changing. It demands commitment….like working out…the results you get out of it is directly relate to the time, energy and effort you put into it!
So if you ever asked the question, ‘Convince me efficiency works?’, instead ask ‘Why would I not want to be efficient?’
Are you convinced efficiency works? Feel free to leave a comment below or shout out to us on Facebook or Twitter. Of course, you could always write your own blog post on the subject and share it with us… We’d love to read it!
