Some may of heard of the title “productivity consultant” or “productivity strategist,” though my guess is not many. It is the latest title for those in the field of professional organizing. With companies wanting to get the most out of their employees, they need to guide and direct them to use time effectively and to retain focus and follow through on specific projects as well as on day to day tasks.
From the website Type A Professional Organizer, they write,
“In today’s economy, all businesses want to be able to do more with less. Some try to figure it out as they go, waiting for the economy to turn around or try to latch on to the next big thing. Other more savvy businesses know that productivity is tied directly to the bottom line. These businesses – from entrepreneurs to Fortune 100 companies – use Business Productivity Consulting to help them see through the overwhelm and help them achieve more – faster, better, and with less stress. In a business setting, productivity consultants increase productivity and profitability with improvements in paper filing, electronic organizing, work-flow systems, and time management. While the services seem vague, consultants ask the right questions, listen, and then customize organizational systems to fit the customer’s needs.”
Productivity is tied in with profitability. Unfortunately there exist a multitude of distractions from checking Facebook to one’s cellphone, to looking for lost documents and files, to not using time efficiently at work. Having the proper structure and plan of action is key for employers and employees to know what needs accomplishing and creating the proper timeline for it. I know as a business owner, structuring my time is key or else I will drift with my oars out of the water. I won’t use my time to the best of my abilities and not complete the tasks I need to get done. Add in working with clients, networking, keeping current with social media and the like, it can feel overwhelming and challenging to stay on track.
Well known paper/office and productivity organizer, Barbara Hemphill states the 5 steps she takes her clients through when working with them as a productivity consultant:
1. State your vision.
2. Identify your obstacles
3. Commit your resources
4. Design your SYSTEM (Saving You Space Time Energy Money)
5. Maintain your success
She says that each client has his/her own needs and works with the individual by creating a customized plan. By doing this, the client has specific tasks that need accomplishing within time parameters. The client continues until the outcome is reached. We need to know where we are going, what we want to accomplish and what we need to do to get there. It’s creating the roadmap for ourselves so we can set our internal GPS in the right direction.
Getting things done helps us accomplish the smaller tasks on the way to the bigger goal. The key here is “smaller.” By breaking down goals into smaller tasks, we create manageability and doability. Often overwhelmed at the prospect of a large project or goal, we might find ourselves stymied and not sure where to go or how to proceed. With the goal parceled into smaller chunks, we can get done what we need in a specific time frame and then move onto the next piece as we work towards completing the project or reaching the goal in its entirety. The productivity consultant works with the client to understand what she needs so she reach that desired outcome.
As you can see these consultants can provide a wealth of support and guidance from teaching how to keep one’s desk cleared, to managing paper, emails and getting things done within blocks of designated time. These consultants help the client increase their productive output, stay on track and ultimately, increase their bottom line.