How to... have conversations about efficiency
Understanding Efficiency
Efficiency is the ability to avoid wasting materials, energy, effort, money and time in doing something or producing a desired result. It is the ability to do things well, successfully and without waste. In organisations, efficiency plays a key part in growth and profitability.
Things to consider
Useful Questions
This will differ for everyone and it is important to help the person understand so that they can action certain things to help them be as efficient as possible
This questions can be asked to the individual, could be asked of you as a manager or of the organisation as a whole
People often need a reminder of how they can improve their efficiency. Helping someone think about what has worked in the past can be useful/
Learning from someone who is naturally productive and efficient can be a short route to finding solutions that work for you
Asking someone to identify what is important can help prioritise and by proiritising you can be more efficient. Also asking this questions helps to understand if there are differences in understanding of what is currently important
Planning workload can help people be more efficient
Some people are more easily distracted than others. How can you limit distractions to improve efficiency?
Some people like to plan out their workload, whilst others thrive on working to a deadline. By understanding your preference you can manage your work to suit your needs. Although be careful, because remember there may also be other people to consider
Things change all the time? Too much change can make you inefficient. Understanding how you handle change can help in times of lots of change.
Conflicting priorities, deadlines or demands from different people can lead to stress, and stress can reduce efficiency. It can be helpful to understand how conflicting priorities affect you and think about what you can do to manage these