How to measure workplace productivity

To measure workplace productivity, focus on profits and time management, and monitor employee progress. Here is some information on these ways and others you can use to measure workplace productivity:

• Focus on profits

A clear indicator of a workplace's productivity is the profit margin of the organization. This can help you understand how well your teams are performing, and if they are meeting critical goals, such as sales quotas. Seeing an uptick in annual profits from one year to another is a way to evaluate the productivity of all employees at an organization in a broad manner.

• Time management

Time management focuses on how long it takes employees to finish tasks. This helps immensely in determining productivity. You can ask employees to enter the time they spend on specific tasks into a spreadsheet. This provides you with informative data on whether they are completing tasks in the amount of time they should be.

• Monitor employee progress

There are many different measurements for productivity that involve direct supervision and monitoring of employee progress. These methods help you to understand how much work is getting done, as well as its overall quality, and then make adjustments, or set new objectives when necessary. This involves meeting with employees regularly.

• Gauge consumer satisfaction

Another great way to measure workplace productivity is by gauging consumer or client satisfaction with your products and/or services. Customers and clients can often provide key feedback to let you know how productive your teams are actually being. There are many methods to this approach, but a common one is the use of consumer surveys.

• Number of tasks completed

Another simple way to gauge productivity in the workplace is to record the number of tasks that are completed in a specific amount of time. You should choose a time period that makes sense for your business model and the tasks associated with it. You might or might not include time as a factor here, but the focus should always be the completion of a task.

• Utilizing peer assessment and feedback

When your organization has a number of small teams you can use peer assessment and feedback to gain a unique insight into workplace productivity. This approach sees you measuring productivity by interviewing peers or team members and having them fill out surveys on their coworkers' performance, including strengths and weaknesses.

• Focus on labor time to products produced, if applicable

In a manufacturing setting, focusing on labor time compared to the number of products produced is a great way to measure workplace productivity. Labor time is also referred to as the input in this calculation, and the number of products made is also referred to as the output. This sets up a simple formula for you to evaluate workplace productivity.