“Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.” – Franz Kafka
Humankind’s quest to create tangible value, connect with remote populations, and sustain the flow of life ignited the earliest forms of commerce on the planet. In time, barter systems emerged and gained extensive use across human societies; these continue to thrive in many forms in the present day. Subsequently, more evolved and sophisticated systems became the norm; these are premised on transactions based on complex economic phenomenon, such as demand and supply, national currencies, trans-national trade networks, geopolitics, tariff systems, and more.
In this context, modern enterprise seeks to increase productivity as a means to generate higher quanta of output, which in turn established deep linkages to overt commercial objectives such as profitability. The term ‘productivity’ finds clear definition as “the efficient use of resources, labor, capital, land, materials, energy, and information in pursuing the production of various goods and services. Higher productivity means accomplishing more with the same amount of resources or achieving higher output in terms of volume and quality from the same input.” Flowcharts, and allied inter-linked illustrations, allow human beings to formulate strategies that variously boost modern metrics such as productivity.
Priorities and actions, when co-related and charted inside an illustration, can boost the mission to increase productivity in modern enterprise. Such a stance enables designers to create flowcharts that appear in the form of dual panels. The first panel lists a range of distinct priorities, while the second explores different tactics and strategies that enable the attainment of each priority. In doing so, the flowchart emerges as a universe of visual movement, one that delineates various mechanisms to increase productivity in specific contexts. When designed in the digital domain, each connection between the two panels can emerge as a flowchart in its own right; designers can also choose to spotlight various context-specific inputs that power higher levels of productivity inside business processes. Essentially, the flowchart(s) offers designers the tools to increase productivity in line with the objectives of the sponsor organization.
Contingency plans contribute significantly to corporate mandates that seek to increase productivity on a sustainable basis. This assertion is validated by research that indicates such plans allow organizations to recover faster from disruptions and resume operations. Flowcharts can assist process designers to devise (the outlines and content of) intelligent contingency plans and incorporate these into the stages that animate a process. For instance, a manufacturer of automotive parts can devise multiple contingency plans that include external vendors, off-the-clock work shifts, rapid new prototyping systems, inventory provisions, and redundant manufacturing processes. Extraordinary events can trigger these plans and ensure that the mission to increase productivity remains a top priority. In essence, the flowchart serves as a blueprint that empowers said manufacturer to deliver on commitments given to key customers and business clients.
The act of tracking time in the workplace can increase productivity for the individual worker or business executive. Organizations can adopt such a stance in pursuit of the objective of boosting work output at multiple levels. A flowchart, when devised for each department, can elaborate the stages of standard processes etched with definite timelines. This may appear simplistic, but an effective implementation of such strategy allows the organization to gain enhanced productivity over the long term. In addition, this technique allows trainers to set expectations for new employees, while enabling the latter to gain a useful familiarity with performance benchmarks. Such a stance remains critical when analysts seek to measure the productivity of the organization against the total time available during the average workweek. Further, line managers may refer to the flowchart when benchmarking an organization’s performance with industry peers.
Removing distractions and peripheral obligations can spur human creativity and increase productivity in the modern workplace. This stance finds validation in modern neuroscience, which postulates, “Flow states require setting goals that are just challenging enough so that a person can keep their attention focused for a sustained period of time.” In line with this, work managers and supervisors can actively engage in removing distractions that disturb workers and dilute their focus on the proverbial job at hand. Disturbances can emanate from personal communication devices, social media platforms, excessive verbal exchanges, pending workflows, personal concerns, and tight timelines. In such scenarios, managers and supervisors can reduce the impact of each such element in pursuit of the objective to increase productivity. A flowchart can assist in the task by allowing supervisors to set regular goals, map manifest distractions, and devise strategies to boost the productive phases in work routines.
In addition to the above, the modern workplace must offer the right tools and equipment, close-to-ideal workplace conditions, set realistic goals, offer active support, and set benchmarks that practice positive reinforcement techniques. These methods can be individually devised inside flowcharts with a view to increase productivity and boost worker engagement. For instance, an operator of business consultancy services can increase productivity by offering unrestricted access to online resources, encouraging knowledge transfer practices, reinforcing the organizational commitment to ensuring client delight, offering skills upgrade services to all knowledge workers, and presenting opportunities to work with clients in offsite locations, among others. These incentives can energize the analyst community, leading to work output that may exceed the expectations of customers and clients. The flowchart can help business owners to frame effective implementation strategies, thereby ensuring long-term success for the sponsor organization.
Co-ordinated team activity can serve to increase productivity in scenarios where work teams tackle multiple projects simultaneously. The intelligent application of skills and effort can assist members of an organization to achieve this. Team leaders and project managers can perform a lead role in such activity, thereby allowing the modern organization to skillfully service demanding clients and customers. Flowcharts can aid in the design of such work regimens – these diagrams can empower work teams to retain a sharp focus on objectives and consistently deliver on exacting timelines. The outcomes can include higher levels of team productivity and smart instances of team effort that win accolades. High levels of personal motivation must complement rigorous training in the skillful negotiation of multiple projects. Therefore, we may infer organizations must invest in regular training regimes in order to gain high productivity and performance levels on a consistent basis.
These ideas and illustrations harbor significant potential to add impetus to projects designed to increase productivity in the modern workplace. Business strategists and organizational thinkers must however, examine each workflow in special light prior to devising productivity strategies. The modern manufacturing industry, for instance, can choose to apply higher levels of automation to the shop floor in pursuit of increased productivity. This stance implies the use of digital technology mated to robotics and other forms of shop floor automation.
A research organization, on the other hand, must invest in knowledge tools and similar technologies to service the goal of higher productivity. However, organizational stewards must bear in mind the imperative to nurture human capital, because this provides a critical impulse toward long-term productivity gains. Therefore, regular training sessions can serve as a motivational tool in the modern workplace. Further, the mission to register higher levels of productivity can gain impetus when expert knowledge transfer protocols are positioned inside work processes. Flowcharts can impart form, direction, and function to such initiatives, thereby enabling the modern organization to undertake a systematic mission towards higher productivity.
