How to get your Business Working Closer to its Full Capacity (without blowing the budget)
Many business owners, when asked at what percentage of capacity their business is running – i.e. the level of productivity the company is working at, compared to the level it could, or should be – are likely to say anything between two thirds and 90%. So what happens when the usual ways of getting productivity levels up has not worked as hoped? Let’s take, as an example, the following:
Company Analysis – Competence
A software development team made up of experienced staff is working at well below its expected output.
- Measures are put in place to assess current levels of productivity
- A Training Needs Analysis is done which identifies that although the level of expertise is generally quite high, there is still a knowledge gap in the team
- Training is put in place to plug that gap
- New measures are taken to assess the new levels of productivity and the effectiveness of any training
- Productivity has increased by about 10%
A success story? Maybe. Maybe not, especially if the 10% improvement is still way below the level the team could be performing at. And why is the improvement so small?
Adding in the M-Factor
Let’s look at the situation in a slightly different way. Productivity of an individual or team can be determined by the following formula:
Productivity = Competence x Motivation.
So the analysis of the problem might now look like this:
Company Analysis – Competence & Motivation
A software development team made up of experienced staff is working at well below its expected output.
- Measures are put in place to assess current levels of productivity
- A Training Needs Analysis is done which identifies that although the level of expertise is generally quite high, there is still a knowledge gap in the team. As a rough-and-ready measure, the current level of knowledge is scored at 9 out of 10
- A Motivational Maps® analysis is done which identifies the team’s current level of motivation as 5 out of 10
So the productivity of this team is 9 x 5 = 45%. This roughly matches the manager’s estimate of current output levels. If the company only focuses on competence, then if they get that to 10 out of 10, the best possible result is a productivity level of 10 x 5 = 50% – i.e. a 10% improvement.
- A Motivational Maps® Reward Strategy is developed and implemented to improve motivation in both the team and the individuals that make it up
Far more benefit can usually be achieved if motivation is improved. If motivation levels were increased to 10 out of 10, productivity could go up to 9 x 10 = 90%.
- Measures are taken to assess the new levels of productivity and the effectiveness of the Motivational Maps® strategy
- Productivity has increased by about 60%
This correlates to a motivation score within the team of 8 out of 10 –productivity goes up to 9 x 8 = 72%. – i.e. a 60% improvement on the starting level of 45%, with an opportunity to increase it even more. This is why the most cost-effective way for a business to move productivity closer to the 100% of its full potential capacity, is to look at the motivation of the teams and departments that make it up. A Motivational Map® assessment takes just 15 minutes and can be done online. If you are interested in a Motivational Map® analysis for an individual member of staff, a group/team/department, or the entire business, contact Ailnoth on 0117 230 1458 or info@ailnothconsultants.co.uk for a free initial consultation.
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