Productivity at work: what are we talking about?

1. Breaking out of clichés

Productivity at work is often associated with a simple question of volume - the more you do, the better. But in reality, productivity is much more complex than that. It involves not only the quantity of work done, but also its quality, its impact on strategic objectives and the effective management of resources.

2. Work productivity indicators

Measuring productivity at work requires a close look at several key indicators. But which indicator is the most important? It's not just a question of counting the number of tasks accomplished, but also of considering their added value, their contribution to economic growth and their effect on overall company performance.

Better manage your time and energy

The best ally for productivity is focus. To achieve this, you need to know how to organize your weeks to optimize your time and protect your concentration, and this involves two essential points.

1. Ritualize your diary

Identifying recurring slots and reserving them in advance is essential for maintaining productivity. For example, your recurring meetings may include team meetings, cross-functional meetings or individual weekly reviews. These dedicated times help synchronize efforts and maintain fluid communication within the organization.

In addition to meetings, schedule recurring individual work time . These times can be set aside for "deep work", accomplishing small tasks ("to do") or preparing for upcoming meetings. Organizing these times allows you to concentrate fully on important tasks without interruption.

And don't forget to set aside time for recurring availability. This time, often neglected but precious, allows you to optimize the organization of your week and avoid being constantly solicited by other colleagues. You can indicate your availability for meetings or for your team, as well as specifying your days of presence in the office. By clearly defining these time slots, you can better structure your schedule and increase your overall productivity.

2. Finish your diary on Monday morning

Taking 20 minutes on Friday afternoon or Monday morning to plan the week ahead is an effective practice that can significantly improve your productivity. During this time dedicated to planning, you have the opportunity to take stock of the tasks accomplished over the past week and evaluate the objectives to be achieved for the following week. By taking a close look at your diary, you can identify the right times for your "deep work" sessions, those time slots when you devote yourself fully to complex, high-priority tasks. By planning these sessions in advance, you ensure that you can tackle important projects with full concentration, uninterrupted by less urgent tasks.

What's more, this planning period gives you the opportunity toassess the need for upcoming meetings and organize them strategically. You can determine whether a meeting is really necessary, or whether the same communication can be carried out asynchronously. By optimizing your schedule in this way, you can avoid wasting time and focus your energies on activities that really contribute to your objectives.

To discover all our tips and strategies for better managing your time and energy, download the Numa Focusing Resource Kit now. This kit brings together the best of our training courses designed to help you optimize your use of time and protect your focus, enabling you to achieve unrivalled levels of productivity.

Training for greater productivity

1. Prioritize

NUMA's prioritization training teaches you how to choose where to focus your efforts, whether collectively or individually. By prioritizing your tasks effectively, you maximize your impact and efficiency.

During this training course, you will learn about 2 key aspects of prioritization:

• Prioritize collectively: how to define ambitious yet realistic objectives? How do you decide whether to stop a project?
• Prioritize individually: How can you spend the most time on what's most valuable?

2. Learn to manage time and energy‍

NUMA's Time and Energy Management Training offers a comprehensive approach to optimizing your productivity and protecting your focus. By enrolling in this training, you will empower yourself to organize your weeks strategically, focusing on value creation and making wise choices to maintain your focus. The pedagogical objectives of this course are clear: to teach you to manage your diary as your main communication tool in hybrid mode, to preserve your time and energy, and to direct your energy towards the tasks that really matter.

You will learn to :

• Manage your diary and protect your time by reserving uninterrupted work periods and distinguishing between in-depth work periods and "to-do" work periods.
• Know where you want to create value, and make the right choices to maintain or abandon your focus depending on the situation.
• Learn to say no in a positive way to coach your teams and use asynchronous meetings to reduce the number of meetings.
• Manage your own energy and that of your team.

3. Fewer but better meetings

Training to reduce the number of meetings and make those that remain more effective is an ideal solution. Learn how to limit non-essential meetings, prepare and run productive meetings, and maximize time spent together for faster, better decisions.

During this workshop, our NUMA coaches will give you the keys to :

• Limiting meetings: a series of cases in which participants propose alternative communication formats to replace meetings they can do without. Voice notes, video messages, regular newsletters, ... and tips on how to use each format.
• Refuse meetings without rushing the organizer.
• Prepare and run a meeting: analyze, criticize and improve an invitation to a meeting (title, framing, objectives, participants, agenda, etc.).

By adopting these solutions and investing in your professional development, you can significantly improve your productivity at work. Ultimately, better management of time and resources benefits the whole company, promoting sustainable growth and optimal performance. To find out more about our approach and how we structure our training courses, click here.