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> On Wed, 5 Nov 2003 16:42:45 -0600, Anna Langley
> <alangley -at- ts -dot- checkpoint -dot- com> wrote:
> > It is now my duty to take
> > our four content writers, and improve their efficiency by 20 percent.
What gives? Did one of your executives read in a magazine that all employees
waste 20% of their time? What is the basis for this number? Why twist
yourself up in knots to jump through some completely arbitrary hoop?
OF COURSE everyone should try to work as efficiently as possible at all
times. And it's your responsibility as a manager to provide your team with
the tools and working conditions and incentives to do so. If your company is
too heavy-handed about this, your best writers will leave as soon as they
can and take their efficiency with them. Job shortage or no job shortage.
I actually agree with shortening deadlines and blocking techwr-l and
upgrading RAM and having your own printer.
Here's a few more suggestions:
* Get all your writers to use the active voice at all times. This will save
approx. 15% of the inefficient words they would otherwise use if they
indulged in the passive voice.
* Get all your writers to eat lunch at their desks. Assuming an 8-hour
workday, this will save 12.5% of the time they would otherwise waste in
unproductive sandwich-munching.
* Get all your company's SMEs to smilingly review all drafts by the assigned
deadline and provide only highly intelligent and legible comments. This will
save approx. 10% of the time that your staff would otherwise waste in
unproductive stomping around the room cursing.
* Eliminate all indexes in your documentation. A good index is supposed to
be 5% of the length of a non-fiction book, so that will increase
productivity at least 5%.
We're already up to 52.5%--shall I go on?
The point is: if it's so easy to increase efficiency by 20% why didn't you
do it before now? And if it isn't, what is going to magically make it easy
now? The threat of outsourcing to India?
Sometimes the best tactic is to push back and defend your team. This may be
one of those times.
Gordon Graham
============================
Gordon Graham, Partner
Gordon & Gordon
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Award-winning newsletters and
marketing writing for high-tech
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www.gordonandgordon.com
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