Scott and Steven Balough's Mar-Bal hit its stride after the two brothers took over the Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based manufacturer of industrial materials for the likes of
But for all that progress, the brothers still felt their company could be measurably more productive. "When we took over we had just five people in our sales and engineering department," says Scott, 46. "Now we have 25 people." And with their three plants--in Chagrin Falls, Ohio; Dublin, Va.; and Cuba, Mo.-- the brothers "found we were having difficulty keeping our finger on the pulse of what everyone was doing, especially when sales representatives were out traveling to see customers."
Enter Valdis Krebs, a Rocky River, Ohio-based management consultant, whom the Baloughs met at a conference last April. Krebs is the creator of InFlow, a so-called social-networking analysis software program that measures communication within an organization.
In Pictures: Nine Productivity-Enhancing Tools
In Pictures: Nine Enlightening Business-Performance Metrics
Basically, InFlow maps the relationships between people within a company and renders those linkages in a Web-like diagram. The goal: to understand how information moves through the system in order to clean out the clogs.
First, Krebs designs a survey that might ask employees within the company to whom they turn for information; he then translates the results into patterns that can be analyzed. Basic example: If many employees indicate they ply the owner with questions, the Web diagram will have lots of thick, bold lines running to a hub (i.e. the owner); in that case, Krebs might prescribe a way of delegating some of that responsibility to, say, a competent office manager. Cost of that intelligence: between $10,000 and $100,000, depending on the size of the company.
The Baloughs are believers: "[Our communications study] was a real eye-opener for us," says Steven, 43. "We were able to identify bottlenecks that had been slowing us down, as well as an area of weak communication between our plant managers."
Productivity is powerful medicine in any economy, but it's downright crucial in a severe downturn. The good news is that there are plenty of productivity boosters that don't cost five figures.
Smart measurement goes a long way. After all, how can you increase productivity if you don't measure it in the first place?
The trick: Deciding which metrics to measure and how to measure them. Will you track the number of dollars per widget or widgets per hour? And will you track productivity by business unit or by individual employees?
According to a 2008 Institute for Corporate Productivity study of 305 organizations across the U.S., 36% of participants measure their business' productivity by evaluating the output of work groups, while 31% said they use output per person. Whatever metrics you choose, remember to trace the trends over comparable year-over-year periods. (For more on keeping numerical tabs on your company, check out "What's Really Going On At Your Company?")
Along those lines, another key to productivity management is being able to identify subtle shifts and make adjustments quickly. New gadgets can help.
Knowledge Sync is a software program that sends alerts (via e-mail, pop-up messages, fax, pager, cellphone or Web browser) when certain metrics--from overdue receivables to employee "sick" days--go out of whack. Cost: $1,800.
Then there's the TimeCorder, designed by Mark Ellwood, president of Pace Productivity, a Toronto-based consultancy. This handheld device helps managers measure how much time employees spend performing a given task. Example: Simply punch 1-2-3 into the TimeCorder when, say, you begin making calls to prospective clients; then punch 4-5-6 when you switch tasks to take a meeting with a vendor. After two weeks of data gathering, Pace analyzes the results and offers recommendations. Cost: between $850 and $950 per TimeCorder rental, depending on the number of participants.
How much work time are your employees wasting on Facebook, MySpace and other social networks? Notworking will tell you. Derek Sorensen, owner of a Web site repair company near London, came up with Notworking, an application you can download to your desktop that will tally all of those wasted hours and dollars.
Notworking installs with the click of a mouse. Just go to www.websiterepairs.net/notworking.php and follow the downloading instructions. The bright yellow box that appears on your screen keeps a counter of the hours you spend online and an hourly equivalent of the money you could have made in that time. (Users input their own estimates for their hourly worth, in any currency.) Click the "cumulative" setting, and Notworking will start ticking away the minutes from where it left off the last time you ran the program.
Finally, never underestimate periodic pats on the back. Occasional rewards--pizza parties, happy hours, theater tickets--can go a long way in energizing a staff, translating to future productivity. According to the Institute for Corporate Productivity study, 31% of participants believed that rewards and recognition programs increase productivity to a high or very high degree, while an additional 37% believe it helps to a moderate degree.
For more tips on combating employee malaise in a tough economy, check out "How To Boost Employee Morale On A Budget."