Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category

The Role of Telecommuting in Productivity Measurements

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Productivity measurements have always been important aspects when it comes to the success of any business or organization. However, when you talk about these particular measurements, there is that off-chance that you would hear the subject of telecommuting broached as well. Interestingly, you just might be one of the many people who have heard about this so-called relationship between the two. So, why is there such a relationship between two topics that seem to have just a minor, if any, relationship?

The truth is, in spite of the many myths that surround productivity measurements and telecommuting, telecommuting has indeed become quite the focus where productivity measurements are concerned. Through the years, telecommunication channels have experienced considerable improvement. And when you look at the nature of telecommunicating jobs, you would see for yourself how this particular job is far from the typical office job. You just might even find out for yourself how the mere act of measuring productivity can be doubly difficult in the industry of telecommuting. But why is this so?

In its most basic form, productivity is the output that is produced within a specific period. This is how productivity is defined in Economics. For instance, a web content writer who works in an office setting is able to complete 3 articles in 1 hour. This would then become the productivity rate for that particular writer. This is easy to compute because the data involved is quantitative in nature. This also provides easier translation. However, when you deal with qualitative data, then this becomes a different story. When you are telecommuting, you actually work from home, and being home-based translates to having your own work schedule. You actually make your own time here. The issue here then becomes the fear that plagues employers, that they do not have any hold in the productivity of the home-based employee because the employee makes his or her own time. This, however, should just remain a popular myth.

The truth of the matter is, it is not really that difficult to measure productivity even with telecommuting positions. The rate at which a telecommuting employee works remains the same with just about every project that is assigned. For instance, let us say a medical transcriptionist is able to transcribe 5 files in a single hour. It should not matter how many hours in a work day the MT chooses to work, for the hourly rate would remain the same here. Still 5 files in an hour, no matter what hour of day this may be. With this in mind, measuring productivity should not be that difficult at all.

Another popular misconception here is that the employer does not have any say on the work the employee takes on over a set period of days. This is still not true because of the fact that as an employer, you have the power to enforce deadlines. If you give a home-based web content writer a deadline of 3 days to finish 10 articles, then the writer should adhere to that deadline. Of course, the deadline here should be reasonable as well, and this can be determined by observing the ongoing trends in article production.

Productivity measurements are still very much attainable in the telecommuting industry. Thus, there should be no reason to think these are difficult to compute at all.

If you are interested in productivity measurements, check this web-site to learn more about productivity metrics.

The Essence of Implementing Productivity Benchmarks

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Understandably, companies belong to different industries would have different productivity benchmarks that they make use of. This is because the nature of the industries they belong to are significantly different. Interestingly, even companies of the same industry would still have slight differences in the productivity benchmarks that they use. But to further understand the concept behind these benchmarks, it comes as a must to break them down into two.

Economically speaking, productivity pertains to the ratio of input to output, with significant relations with production and procedures entailed with production. Input here refers to all the resources that are used in creating, processing, and producing the products of the business itself. Output, of course, would refer to the products or the services resultant to the production process.

Meanwhile, a benchmark is actually a standard that is used to compare and measure the products against. Let us say that in the business of article marketing, the ideal number of articles that a content writer can finish in a single hour would be from two to three. This would then be the standard in the industry, making it one of the benchmarks.

When combined, the productivity benchmark would then be the standard used in the comparison of a company’s productivity and its performance. It can also be used as a standard when it comes to measuring productivity.

So, how should companies come up with this type of benchmark? To come up with accurate results, the past and present performance of the enterprise should be assessed. It would be better to hold just an internal evaluation here because the people within the enterprise are actually the ones who can better rate the performance of the company, both past and present. Interestingly, each and every department can create its own productivity benchmark. However, it still comes as a must to stick to a standard when basing productivity here.

There just might be a need for companies to consider the assets of the enterprise as well as the number of employees during the process of developing these benchmarks. The different departments of the enterprise should be scanned and studied thoroughly as well.

The business has to pay attention to the collection of information here. Survey, interviews, and publications make great avenues for the collection of information, to ensure that the productivity benchmark created here is indeed accurate. Once all of the necessary information is collected, the proper collation of such should then be enforced.

There is indeed a need for any business to enforce productivity benchmarks. This is actually a strategic move businesses can make in knowing the trends, practices, and moves of their competitors. And with the implementation of such benchmarks, it would also be easier to determine which processes, trends, and practices of your competitors can be beneficial for your own company. No, this is not spying at all. Healthy competitions is actually fostered here, so do not feel guilty if your company plans to emulate the very practices and trends that have made your competitors the success that they are right now.

If you are interested in productivity benchmarks, check this web-site to learn more about indicators benchmarks.