Manager’s Guide to Productivity Measurement

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Remote Work Policy Template

How to Use this TemplateMany organizations are embracing remote work as a way to provide additional flexibility to employees and adapt to shifting workforce needs and expectations. When offering remote work arrangements,it is a good idea to establish clear expectations between individuals, managers and the organization to ensure the needs of all parties can be met.

This remote work policy template intends to provide you with a starting point for the development of your company’s work from home policy. This is meant to be modified to meet your company’s needs and should be considered conceptual content for setting up your organization’s remote employment policy.

is a cloud-based workforce analytics solution that collects and categorizes user activity datato provide insights that help teams improve productivity - whether working in-office or remote.The easy-to-use reports and dashboards in ActivTrak enable managers and teams to:

ActivTrak

Get started today by creating a .free account

Establish remote work policies, assess their effectiveness, and make changes for on-going improvement.

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Leverage data insights to understand most used apps,total work time and most productive time periods for both remote and in-office employees.

Assess workload balance and identify individuals who may be exhibiting signs of burnout so you can make proactive changes.

Understand how time is spent across collaboration tools, multitasking and focus time to help support healthyand productive work habits.

Identify usage of anomalous applications and potentialdata privacy risks to bolster operational compliance.

Share personal productivity reports with individuals to help everyone understand and improve their own work habits.

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About ActivTrak

Manager’s Guide to Productivity Measurement

How To Use This Guide

About ActivTrak

There are numerous benefits to productivity measurement, like gaining a continuous view of employee engagement, keeping a pulse on burnout risk, helping teams carve out focused work time, and more. For leaders new to productivity measurement, there are often questions on how to use productivity data effectively without compromising employee trust.

This productivity measurement guide will equip you with the knowledge you need to take a modern, ethical, and data-driven approach to productivity measurement that empowers teams to do their best work. These techniques and pro-tips can be modified to meet your organization’s needs and should serve as a core framework that you can return to again and again.

ActivTrak is a cloud-based workforce analytics solution that collects and categorizes user activity data to provide insights that help teams improve productivity - whether working in-office or remote. The easy-to-use reports and dashboards in ActivTrak enable managers and teams to:

• Measure productivity trends across teams and individuals

• Assess workload balance and burnout risk

• Identify how and where to build more focus time into daily routines

• Enable managers to advocate for the resources their teams need

• Understand which apps and websites are used most and by which teams

• Keep a pulse on engagement levels of remote and in-office workers

Get started today by creating a free account.

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Chapter One: A Modern Approach to Productivity Measurement

The past few years have seen some major shifts when it comes to the way employees work. While it may have once seemed crazy to think that employees could work anywhere other than a corporate workspace, the exponentially growing trendline of remote work proves otherwise. With all the changes to the ways we work, it’s natural to wonder whether employee productivity might be suffering in the face of these new challenges.

In this guide, we will help you discover a better approach to employee productivity, one that focuses on employee engagement and satisfaction in addition to output. We will also share some of ActivTrak’s proven workforce productivity tips that will bring your employees, workflows, and technologies together to create a better work environment where employee morale and employee productivity go hand-in-hand.

No matter what kind of business you work for, we know these tips can help you succeed!

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Why It’s Time to Start Talking About Productivity Measurement

The Workplace Is Changing: It’s OK to Ask Questions!

From telecommuting to hot desks and flex-time, the typical workday looks very different than it did even a few years ago. These changes to the standard working environment come with a lot of benefits, however. From a human resources standpoint, remote work increases the available talent pool to include potential team members from across the globe. Numerous studies have also shown that remote work improves work-life balance for employees.

For instance, a FlexJobs survey found that 86% of remote workers felt that working remotely reduces their stress and that 21% of workers would even give up their vacation time if it meant they could have more flexible remote work options. Remote work also helps enterprises boost employee retention rates and lower operating costs. According to Forbes’ research, 54% of employees say they would leave their current jobs for one that offered remote flexibility, which translates to an average turnover reduction rate of 12%. Also, enterprises can save an average of $11,000 per year per part-time remote worker.

Of course, these shifting approaches to how we work — especially the increased adoption of remote work — come with their own difficulties. For all the conveniences that come with flexible schedules, employees are also forced to navigate a wide variety of new challenges as well. These include dealing with unconventional work environments, relying more on virtual collaboration, managing increased control over their work hours, and handling unprecedented focus challenges that make sitting at a desk and staying on task more difficult than ever. Plus, while many in-office processes have been adapted to fit remote work setups, some are not as effective as they once were. That adds yet another challenge for managers trying to maintain their team’s productivity while managing these new circumstances.

In light of all the changes that came with the meteoric rise of remote work, it’s natural for managers to wonder how their team’s productivity compares to what it looked like back when everyone was in the office.

• Are my team members operating more efficiently, less efficiently, or the same?• How can I support increasingly flexible remote work environments without compromising productivity levels?• Are processes being followed even though I can’t see them?• How much of the workday is actually productive time, and how much is responding to Slack message after Slack

message?

These are all great questions to ask in the current landscape, and they’re more common than you might think. The only way to answer these questions — and answer them without just guessing — is to use intelligent workforce productivity technology to uncover what productivity means in your enterprise and measure employee productivity accurately.

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Defining Productivity But, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before we can start digging into any of your burning questions about how to improve productivity, we have to address one central question first: how do you define productivity?

At ActivTrak, we define productivity as the degree to which outputs are efficiently achieved through maximizing inputs. Outputs are unique to each enterprise, but they include any service or product you provide to the market. Inputs or “productivity enablers” tend to be similar across enterprises, encompassing things like teamwork, efficiency, and innovation.

Workforce productivity is at its best when three things happen:

• People are empowered at an individual level• Processes and workflows are optimized at higher levels• Technology is maximized in your working environment

Each of these components is equally important. One of the most common misconceptions about employee productivity — especially in the discourse surrounding remote work — is that your team’s productivity is entirely dependent on the motivation and drive of each individual employee. In reality, employee satisfaction and productivity go hand-in-hand, and they only form one piece of the workforce productivity puzzle. You also need to ensure that your workflows allow your employees to do their best work and that your technology empowers your teams to work efficiently. This is critical to boosting employee morale and, in turn, boosting productivity (but more on that later).

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Productivity improvement isn’t a one-off project and it’s not something managers should only look into when they suspect their team’s productivity levels have suffered. To truly empower your employees and set them up for success, you have to strive for a continuous productivity improvement culture.

We define that as an ethos and environment in which employee productivity naturally flourishes, employees at all levels feel engaged and empowered, and managers proactively seek out opportunities to help their teams thrive. Here’s how to create this culture in your enterprise:

• Regularly reinforce your vision: Productivity means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, andyour employees must be clear on what they’re being asked to work toward. State your department’s employeeproductivity goals clearly and state them often. When employees understand and believe in your vision, they’remore likely to stay committed.

• Talk openly about employee productivity: Some team members might associate efforts to increase employeeproductivity with time tracking or monitoring. It’s your job to fight back against these notions! Start an honestconversation about what everyone stands to gain from measuring productivity regularly, and encourage your teamto voice their concerns freely.

• Set employee productivity goals: Without defined goals, your efforts to increase employee productivity could losevaluable momentum. Use a workplace productivity analytics tool to help you establish productivity metrics first,then use those same metrics to inform your goals and think about how you can go about achieving them

• Identify areas where friction exists and take steps to address roadblocks: All it takes is one distraction to undoan hour of hard work! Pinging notifications, email alerts, and excessive multitasking eat away at your team’sproductive time. Check in with your employees to talk about any points of friction that prevent them from stayingon task and ask them what kind of support they need.

• Encourage ownership of individual work and productivity levels: Workforce productivity is about giving employeesthe tools they need to be successful, not blaming employees for how they spend their work hours. Praise productiveemployees for their effective time management and tell them to keep up the great work! If there’s room forimprovement when it comes to an employee’s productivity, empower and encourage them to view their ownproductivity levels as a baseline from which to grow.

How to Approach Productivity Management and Improvement

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It’s important that your focus is not on simply increasing overall productivity, but also improving employee engagement so that your team members are more satisfied at work and, in turn, eager to work more productively. Technology — particularly workforce productivity analytics technology — is one of the best ways to do this, though it is only one component of a larger cultural shift. With technology that focuses on employee productivity, you can get data-driven insights into employee engagement, workloads (including potential burnout risk), and more. You can then leverage that real-time data in numerous ways — from hiring to scheduling meetings to giving recognition to employees who deserve it, but whose efforts may otherwise go unnoticed.

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At ActivTrak we believe the future of work is all about open communication, transparency, and inspiring change from the top down. That is particularly true when it comes to promoting productivity improvement and ensuring that your entire team feels supported and empowered to succeed no matter where they are working.

Of course, that’s much easier said than done, which is why we will go into more detail on how to improve productivity in the coming chapters. Until then, we’ll leave you with a few pro tips for boosting productivity:

1. Remember your goal — making sure your employees are happy, fulfilled, and engaged. Taking employee morale seriously is one of the best ways to improve employee satisfaction and performance, which in turn boosts productivity.

2. Cultivate a continuous productivity improvement culture that focuses on transparency, open conversation, and ownership.

3. Use technology that fosters efficiency and produces actionable insights that you can leverage to boost productivity, reduce burnout, and more.

Taking a Modern Approach to Productivity Measurement

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Chapter Two: Merging Productivity Monitoring with Ethics and Transparency

With traditional approaches to productivity measurement, managers had to choose either transparency or accuracy. You could openly ask an employee how they’re spending their time or make assessments based on office/online “facetime”, but these subjective observations don’t offer data that’s accurate enough to power actionable insights. You could get accurate data on how teams work via employee monitoring tools, but many of these platforms were designed to provide oversight for managers, not insights for everyone, and the lack of transparency with this approach quickly wears away at employee trust.

In this chapter, we’ll explain why productivity measurement and transparency do not have to be at odds with each other — in fact, they’re better together! Productivity measurement is best done in a transparent way with the best interests of employees as the core focus, and we’ll give you the tools you need to start measuring productivity the right way. Also, we’ll walk you through the do’s and don’ts of ethical productivity measurement to ensure transparency is always top of mind.

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When you hear the words “productivity tracking” or “monitoring” you might be a little wary. That’s understandable! According to a 2017 Crowd Research Survey, a whopping 94% of organizations use some sort of employee monitoring software, but they sacrifice employee trust in the process. Only 10% of employees would trust their employer more and not less if they knew their software was being used to track their activity.

No one wants to feel like they’re being watched and judged based on how they spend their work time, whether it’s in the office or working from home. The thing is, there are actually a huge number of benefits to effective, transparent productivity monitoring that keeps employees in the loop with their managers. That’s why it’s so important that the dialogue around productivity monitoring — and the way managers approach that monitoring itself — focuses on it as a collaborative effort that is designed to empower employees, not micromanage them.

Over the years, ActivTrak has done just that, evolving from an employee monitoring tool into a powerful productivity monitoring solution that promotes transparency and trust between employers and employees. We believe that employee productivity monitoring isn’t about surveilling team members, tracking time, or springing impromptu check-ins on your employees during their idle time. Instead, it’s about using digital user activity in context to find out how work gets done, how teams interact, how employees can improve, and how results can be optimized.

Why A Transparent Approach to Productivity Measurement Is Essential

You’ll notice the language we use here — it includes a lot of “how’s.” With empowerment-based productivity monitoring, there are no more accusatory questions like “What are you doing on company time?” or “Why hasn’t more work been done?” Instead, our motto is “Insight, not oversight.” We want to give managers the tools and contextual data they need to help their employees make the most of their workday, not give them new ways to spy. This shift in perspective is key to creating an effective and ethical way to monitor employee productivity. This shift is also key to boosting employee buy-in and fostering a more open, data-driven workforce overall. According to an Accenture survey, 92% of employees are open to the idea of collecting data on their work activity as long as it’s used to boost their own well-being and performance. Here’s how to bring employee productivity monitoring software into your enterprise without spooking your team or compromising ethics.

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We know that conceptualizing the difference between productivity measurement and employee monitoring can be challenging if you’ve never thought about it before. With employee monitoring software, you’re focused on gathering user activity on everything that is and isn’t work-related to determine if your employees are productive. There’s no context here — just cold, hard “facts” that either do or don’t live up to your expectations of employee performance. With productivity measurement, you’re only gathering enough user activity to gain insight into how your employees are working so you can in turn help them work smarter, better, and more efficiently. Productivity measurement comes from a place of openness and empowerment, not control.

Here’s how to do productivity measurement the right way:

Do:

• Be transparent: Your employees want to feel valued and trusted, which is why it’s so important that you be upfrontwith them about your productivity measurement activities. That includes telling them what data you’re collectingand how you intend to use it so they understand how you will leverage your productivity analytics to support bothpersonal and organizational growth.

• Let employees look at their own data: This can have a huge impact when it comes to boosting employee trust andeliminating any notion of spying. Giving your team access to their own real-time productivity data proves to themthat you’re not using these detailed reports to hold something over them. Also, it empowers employees to take theinitiative to manage themselves and make improvements to their own overall productivity without needing outsideintervention.

• Incorporate productivity data into 1x1’s with your team: Your goals should be about more than just increasingemployee productivity. While your collected data can (and should) be used to facilitate conversations about keyareas of improvement as well as time management, work-life balance, and successful remote work habits, it canalso drive well-deserved recognition. Let your team members see the real-time data on what they’re doing well!1x1’s are a great time to use the results of your productivity measurement program to boost employee engagementand create a stronger, more satisfied workforce.

• Debunk popular productivity measurement myths: There are a lot of myths surrounding productivitymeasurement, from the idea that it’s only for remote workers to the fact that it violates employee privacy. To getyour employees on board, it’s important that you debunk these myths both verbally and in practice and share withthem what data is (and isn’t) collected and how it will be used.

• Ensure employee privacy: One of the biggest concerns employees have with productivity measurement is that itviolates their privacy. These fears aren’t unfounded given that traditional employee monitoring solutions recordevery action a person performs and may even use keylogging or video capture.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Productivity Measurement

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Unlike these solutions, ActivTrak is dedicated to protecting employee privacy. Our productivity management software never tracks keystrokes or records video. Also, ActivTrak can be set up so that managers can only see their own teams’ data and executives can only see high-level organizational trends, not the data for individual employees. By using a trustworthy productivity measurement solution, you can assure your employees that their data is being protected and their privacy is being respected, all while still collecting the data you need.

Don’t:

• Spy or micromanage! Employee monitoring software is designed to deliver insights to help improve your business. It should never be used to encourage spying or harassing behaviors.

• Think that productivity looks the same for every employee: Productivity can look very different depending on a person’s position within your company and how they choose to manage their time. Focus on finding baselines and analyzing metrics for similar roles instead of comparing apples and oranges.

• Make assumptions: If you’re worried about any data you’re seeing, you should always talk to your employee first to clear up any misunderstandings. Jumping to conclusions erodes trust and makes it harder to take accurate and effective corrective actions.

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Increasing Workplace Productivity through Productivity Measurement

Productivity measurement can be hugely beneficial for both employers and employees, but only if it’s done with a focus on ethics and transparency.

The good news is, it’s possible to gain clear visibility into employee productivity without tracking, surveilling, or alienating your employees. All you need are the right tools and the right perspective!

Here are a few pro tips to help you do that:

• Remember our motto: “Insight, not oversight.” Let it guide everything you do.• Practice empathy and transparency by starting open conversations about employee productivity.• Give employees access to their own data — productivity management is a team effort!• Ensure employee privacy! Only use employee productivity measurement software guaranteed to safeguard

personal information.

Once you have a clear understanding of what employee productivity can and should look like in your enterprise, you can start taking active steps to improve it. That starts with productivity measurement, which is the subject of this guide’s third chapter. Stay tuned!

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Chapter Three: Redefining Productivity Measurement in Your Enterprise

For years productivity measurement has been based almost exclusively on total output — the new products or services a company and its employees create. On the surface, using total output as a productivity index makes sense. After all, outputs are easy to measure and they seem, at first glance, to be a perfectly reasonable way of measuring employee productivity and productivity change over time. Unfortunately, relying solely on outputs rarely, if ever, gives you a complete picture of labor productivity. In the modern enterprise, productivity measurement needs to look beyond outputs and seriously consider the input factors — specifically the employees, workflows, and technologies — that lead to those outputs.

In this chapter of the Productivity Management Playbook, you’ll learn why it’s so important to measure total inputs and why the old ways of measuring productivity are no longer a good fit for the modern enterprise. Plus, we’ll teach you how best to measure overall productivity and explain how you can use those productivity measurements to create positive change on both ends of the input/output spectrum.

By the end of this chapter, you’ll understand why it’s so important that we redefine productivity measurement and you’ll see how redefining it within your own organization can have a major positive impact.

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A Quick Review of Outputs and Inputs in Workforce Productivity MeasurementBefore we can start redefining productivity measurement, let’s circle back around to the definition of outputs and inputs again. Outputs are tangible productivity metrics we can see. They are unique to each enterprise or small business but are generally defined either as the product or service that is provided to the market or the team’s function to the larger organization. Outputs can be anything from the total number of articles published this month, to how many sales leads were generated, to how many new products were put on the market.

Inputs are intangible and harder to see. They are the behaviors and processes that directly affect your outputs. For example, if your sales team is unfocused or misaligned on strategy (inputs), that could explain why sales leads might be low this month (outputs). Unlike outputs, inputs are fairly consistent across all service industries and businesses. The three key inputs at the core of every organization are people, processes, and technology (but more on that later).

Why Old Productivity Measurements Are Out of Place in the Modern EnterpriseAt ActivTrak, we’ve noticed that many managers don’t measure input factors effectively because outputs are much easier to see and assess. We’ve also noticed that many managers aren’t measuring productivity as efficiently as they could be. The key is to find an easy, straightforward, and data-driven way to focus on inputs in your workforce productivity measurement. After all, the quality of your outputs is heavily dependent on the quality of your inputs.

The thing is, finding a way to measure those input-based productivity metrics is a lot easier said than done. Historical measures of productivity enablers like self-reporting, surveys, or deadline completion are a poor match for the needs of the modern enterprise. Why?

Accuracy Issues:

These measures of productivity depend on a lot of subjective factors. 45% of HR professionals don’t think performance reviews and self-reporting are accurate representations of an individual employee’s work, and they have a good reason for thinking this. On an anonymous skills survey for a large vehicle manufacturer, for example, 76% of the engineers rated themselves above average. Since only 50% of any group can be above average, the only thing the survey correctly measured was that 26% of employees had a perception of their performance and productivity that was out of alignment with their actual output.

Also, these measures are heavily manager-dependent and generally based on hunches, meaning that they aren’t a good objective measurement of productivity.

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Finally, surveys and quarterly 1x1 meetings between managers and employees do not track productivity in real-time. Productivity levels naturally ebb and flow, and by the time you sit down with an individual employee to discuss their productivity blockers, it might be too late to take action and foster productivity growth.

Access Issues:

Even if these measures of productivity provided an accurate picture of inputs, they would still present issues when it comes to access. Historical measures of productivity are difficult to capture at scale and are affected by too many variables to yield clear and reliable insights.

How to Get An Accurate Measurement of ProductivityTo adequately measure productivity enablers, you have to shift your focus to progressive indicators. That starts with asking key questions about your three main inputs that will help you define your expectations for each of them:

• People:• Is my workforce engaged?• Are strain and fatigue being alleviated whenever possible?• Are my employees focused for an extended period of time? • Are my employees spending an adequate amount of time on the right activities? Are they capable and trained?

• Process:• Are my processes streamlined and efficient?• Is there space in the production process to innovate and improve upon certain workflows?• Where do process bottlenecks exist? What’s causing them?

• Technology: • Is technology enabling organizational collaboration within my enterprise while also supporting automation?• Is technology being adopted, and adopted mindfully, across my enterprise?• Are my employees adequately trained on the enterprise’s technology? Do they have the right know-how?

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Once you have answers to these questions, you can start measuring these progressive indicators. What does that look like? Let’s break it down by productivity enabler indicator type.

• People: When it comes to your employees, you want to measure focus, alignment, effort, capacity, and collaboration. Specific productivity metrics to consider include focus scores, burnout risk, and break frequency.

• Process: For process, you want to focus on automation, efficiency, innovation, and execution. Key productivity metrics to track include bottleneck points, automation opportunities, and granular completion times.

• Technology: With technology, you want to measure value, security, adoption, usage, licensing, and training. Productivity metrics to focus on include tool usage, training to adoption ratio, and use-case realization.

Cracking the Productivity Formula with the Best TechnologyThe only way to gain insight into these progressive indicators is to use data pulled from an intelligent employee productivity tool. This data can help you make connections between seemingly isolated elements and easily identify common barriers to productivity, including workload balance, meeting fatigue, training effectiveness, process bottlenecks, technology adoption, and collaboration issues.

A tool that delivers workforce productivity analytics can transform your productivity measurement approach, delivering unmatched visibility and data-driven views of employee engagement and productivity thanks to the consistent measurement of key productivity metrics across teams and departments.

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Why We’re Redefining Productivity Measurement For far too long, productivity measurement has remained focused on gross outputs and the labor hours of each individual employee. We believe that valuable output requires good input, which is why you need to measure both and adopt a multifactor productivity approach. Only then can you identify areas where there are opportunities for productivity improvement and assess the impact of your efforts on productivity levels, all while avoiding the many issues that come with using the old methods of productivity measurement.

We know that adopting a new methodology can be challenging, so here are a few tips to help you get started:

1. Establish a productivity level baseline or set benchmarks so you can see where you are and start strategizing how you can get to where you want to be with concrete goals in mind.

2. Measure inputs as well as outputs. Inputs will help you identify areas for improvement and accurately assess how your actions have impacted employee productivity.

3. Focus on data that is accurately and frequently measured instead of relying solely on self-reporting and manager feedback.

4. Lean on technology to access that data and get the best results!

How do you turn productivity measurements into productivity gains? Find out in the final chapter of our Productivity Management Playbook.

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Chapter Four: Optimizing Productivity Management to Achieve Lasting Change

Over the last three chapters of our Manager’s Guide to Productivity Measurement, we’ve talked about why it’s important to take a modern, ethical, and data-driven approach to employee productivity. In this final chapter, we’re bringing all of these elements together and showing you how to approach productivity management in a way that lets you achieve real, lasting change that empowers your employees to do their best work.

You’ll learn how to pick the right actions to promote productivity gains and how to create a feedback loop that leads to a constant cycle of productivity improvement. Plus you’ll see how investing in quality team productivity management tools can deliver the data you need to drive that change.

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Improving Employee Productivity by Reducing BarriersImproving employee productivity begins with looking at your employee productivity data and determining what your most significant barriers to success are. They could include manual workflows, ineffective time management, employee burnout, and any number of factors that are preventing your team members from reaching new heights. Once you’ve determined what your enterprise’s barriers are, it’s time to shift your focus away from productivity reporting to reducing barriers and improving productivity.

Of course, that’s a lot easier said than done. That’s why we recommend breaking down productivity management into the following three phases. It’s important to remember that these phases are not “one-and-done” stages. Instead, they form a feedback loop on your productivity improvement journey that you’ll return to again and again as you continue refining your approaches. The phases are:

1. Identifying the barriers to productivity1. Do notifications and other distractions steer your employees off track?2. Is your team’s workload being divided evenly so no one feels burned out?3. Are your employees feeling engaged, motivated, and invested in the success of the company?

2. Brainstorming solutions that will lead to productivity growth1. Validating your identified barriers with your team members2. Considering possible solutions related to your three productivity enablers — people, process, and technology3. Collecting feedback and buy-in from employees

3. Acting, responding, and measuring productivity1. Deciding which actions make the most sense for your enterprise and will positively affect productivity the most2. Implementing these actions3. Measuring productivity increases, digging into metrics, and collecting feedback

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Once you’ve completed the last stage of phase three, it’s time to start over again — brainstorming new actions, implementing them, and collecting more feedback. There’s always room for productivity improvement, so you’ll become very familiar with these phases very quickly.

How Do I Pick the Right Actions to Optimize Employee Productivity? Let’s dig a little deeper into actions. They’re at the crux of your productivity improvement efforts and it’s natural to worry about whether or not you’re taking the right ones. The truth is that productivity management is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor, and you have to choose the actions that work best for your business and your employees. This will take some time, some research, and a lot of productivity data-driven decision-making.

In some cases, you might find actions that can chip away at multiple productivity barriers. We call these “quick wins” and they should always be given priority. An example of a quick win would be implementing a new technology that will help your team boost productivity by equipping them with the latest tools (a technology win!) and also helping clear bottlenecks (a process win!).

Of course, not every action covers multiple productivity barriers, and that’s ok! That doesn’t make the action any less important when it comes to productivity management. For example, if you have burnout or employee engagement issues, actions like modifying work schedules, increasing break times, or offering gym benefits can go a long way even if they’re only touching on the “people” element of the productivity trifecta.

Achieving a Lasting Impact with Productivity ManagementNow that you’ve taken these actions, how do you ensure that both the actions and their responses actually stick and create real change within your organization? Productivity management and change management go hand in hand and it’s important that you incorporate processes from both in the effort to improve productivity. Here are some tips for making a lasting impact:

• Remember that productivity management is a journey — it’s not a sprint or even a marathon. You won’t get it all done in one fell swoop and that’s ok. Use targeted goal setting to stay motivated and stay on track without getting discouraged.

• Include your employees in the productivity improvement process early on to create trust and boost buy-in.

• Create a feedback loop between employees and managers to ensure that your actions are both effective and sustainable.

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• Use employee data to keep an accurate measure of productivity and uncover key trends that you might not havenoticed before.

• Measure what you can’t see and measure it often. The more you measure those things that you can’t see, likeinputs, the more you’ll understand which actions are critical and which ones aren’t.

• Reward positive behavior changes! It's never a bad idea to compliment someone on a job well done. A recentstudy found that 37% of employees feel most encouraged and motivated by personal recognition, and 84% ofthe most highly engaged employees in an organization received positive recognition the last time they wentthe extra mile at work. Be sure to check in with your team members regularly and give them a lot of positivereinforcement.

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A Sample Process for Boosting Employee Engagement and Productivity All of this sounds great, but figuring out how to put it into practice can be tough. That’s why we’ve broken down everything we discussed and created this straightforward sample productivity management process for keeping your team engaged as you work to boost productivity:

1. Identify Obstacles: Identify obstacles that may potentially inhibit employee performance such as work environment distractions, work-life imbalances, and ineffective project management.

2. Validate and Size: Validate and size the observations and understand the magnitude of the obstacle using your productivity data.

3. Share, Solve, and Gain: Share the findings with your team and understand in better detail what could be contributing to the obstacle. Then solve the obstacles with your team and capture any solutions they may have for improving performance. Gain commitment from employees to participate in new ways of working.

4. Measure Again: Use your productivity data again to understand the impact of the team’s solutions.

5. Collect Feedback: Finally, collect reactions from the team. If the solution was effective, ensure that it is a sustainable one. If the solution doesn’t drive productivity improvement as well as you’d hoped, devise a new one.

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Some Final Thoughts on Making Productivity Growth Last Productivity management is always a hot topic, but it has become even more relevant in light of more remote work and flexible work environments.

When it comes to improving productivity, implementing actions and responses is the most important part. The more engaged your employees are in the process, the more likely you are to succeed. Bringing your employees into the conversation early and giving them ownership over their own productivity (and their own data) is the best way to create lasting change.

As we close out this guide, we’ll leave you with a few final pro tips for optimizing productivity management:

• Remember that improving productivity involves a continuous series of actions and responses combined withfeedback and data-driven analytics.

• Wherever possible, choose combinations of actions and responses that address multiple productivity barriers tomaximize your time, effort, and budget.

• Don’t forget change management! It’s key to driving successful productivity improvement across productivityenablers.

Help Everyone, Everywhere Work Wiser with ActivTrakActivTrak is a workforce productivity and analytics software company that helps teams understand how people work, whether in the office or remotely. Our cloud-based user activity monitoring platform collects and analyzes data and provides insights that help organizations be more productive and compliant. With more than 9,000 customers and over 450,000 users, ActivTrak's award-winning solution can be configured in minutes to provide immediate visibility and analysis.

Get started today with a free account.

Customer Use Cases

• Productivity Measurement & Management• Remote Workforce Management• Employee Engagement & Burnout Risk• Operational Efficiency & Compliance• SaaS Application Management

Key Insights Uncovered

• Are teams aligned and making progress to goals?• Are employees engaged and productive?• Where are teams investing the most time?• What apps are causing interruptions and distractions?• What best practices can be learned from top

performers?• Who is showing signs of burnout risk?• Do we have potential data privacy or operational

compliance risks?

PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT PLAYBOOK24

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