Working less and still being more successful? Yes, that’s possible! The key is not effectiveness, but efficiency. But what is the meaning behind these terms? Find out here what the differences are and how InLoox can help you to work more effectively and efficiently.
"Efficient work" and "effective results" are common terms in project management - but what is the meaning behind them? When it comes to time management or productivity, project managers often talk about processes that need to run more efficiently in future or, in the worst case, you hear them saying: "You work effectively but not efficiently". But what does this mean and what exactly is the difference between effectiveness and efficiency? This article helps you to develop a clearer understanding of efficient work and effective results and provides you with efficiency methods and simple tips on how to work more efficiently with InLoox.
I could go on for ages explaining the difference between effectiveness and efficiency. Or I could show you a picture. Both are effective because they lead to the goal. You will then understand when something is called effective and when something is efficient. However, the picture is the much faster way and therefore more efficient because it achieves the same goal in less time or with less effort.
Initial research in the dictionary does not help to clarify the distinction, as both terms are explained by the synonym "effectiveness". However, more detailed research reveals a wide range of attempts for definition and delimitation. Here we have listed the most common distinctions and explanations of the terms efficiency and effectiveness:
| Effectiveness | vs. | Efficiency |
| Question: What needs to be done? | vs. | Question: How must something be done? |
| Effectiveness means doing the right things. | vs. | Efficiency means doing things right. |
| Effective work is target-oriented, i.e. the use of methods that work towards a set goal. | vs. | Efficient work is resource-saving, i.e. the use of methods that achieve the set goal with the least possible effort (time and/or resources). |
Experience shows why the differentiation of terms is so important. In practice, confusion or synonymous perception of the terms can occur. Old-fashioned managers often still measure the performance of employees based on their working time. They believe that the productivity of the employee who stays in the office the longest is the highest. But studies by Stanford University confirm the opposite: employee productivity decreases as soon as the weekly working time of 50 hours is exceeded. Therefore, the efficiency of the work performed is decisive, not necessarily the effort.
To clarify and visualize the differences between effectiveness and efficiency, the formulas for calculating these two variables can help. The result to be achieved is related to the most important variable in each case. While effectiveness focuses on the best possible achievement of objectives, efficiency focuses primarily on the effort required.
Those who work effectively manage to achieve the best possible result with the resources and materials available.
Those who work efficiently achieve the best possible result in less time with the same resources and materials.
To understand the difference between effectiveness and efficiency even more clearly, take an example. Let's say the marketing department of your company is planning a survey to determine customer satisfaction.
Possibility 1: An employee goes from door to door and visits all customers one after the other. This way you get direct feedback.
Possibility 2: An online form is created to reach as many customers as possible at the same time.
Both possibilities are basically effective, as they represent actions to achieve the given goal. What makes the difference is the way and in this case the amount of time and effort saved, which can be calculated concretely by using the formula given above. Therefore, the online survey is not only effective but also efficient due to the lower effort required.
However, what should be taken into account especially in this example is that the most efficient way is not automatically the most reasonable one. For example, if your company attaches great importance to establishing a close customer relationship, a personal selective survey of individual customers may be the better solution. In the end, this means that every decision must be carefully weighed up to determine how to achieve which goal.
Let's just take ourselves by the nose and admit: we also get distracted and waste time with LinkedIn, emails and podcasts. These time wasters stop us from working efficiently because they prevent focused work. To work through your to-do list efficiently, you need to avoid distractions. The best way to do this:
1. Define goals and formulate tasks clearly. If you don't know what you want to achieve, you can't define any tasks. Therefore, write down what you want to achieve and break down the necessary steps to achieve the goal into individual tasks. If possible, estimate the effort: if you think you will need more than 4 hours to complete the task, divide it into several subtasks that you can complete in less than 4 hours. This will give you a good feeling when you have completed one. To ensure that you focus on the really important things - i.e. on what is effective and necessary to achieve your goals - you can use these two prioritization methods:
2. Block time and deactivate all distractions. So block 1-4 hours in your calendar (time blocking), mute all notifications and get started. Make a bet with your inner bastard that you will complete your to-dos by the end of the blocked time.
3. Good is good enough. Just don't fall into perfectionism and indulge in attention to detail! Take your cue from agile software development and just get started. Work in a concentrated manner with the aim of completing the task set. It doesn't have to be perfect - if necessary, you can run a second loop with constructive feedback.
If you are someone who likes to have theoretical background knowledge for practice, then these methods can help you become efficient:
Also known as the 80/20 method, it describes the rule that 20% effort achieves 80% of the results. Don't believe it? Then read the details of the Pareto effect here. The following applies to your everyday life: If you think you need 60 minutes to do something, just get started and check how far you have come after about 15 minutes of concentrated work. You may find that you have already achieved a good result.
This method started out as hype and quickly proved to be extremely practical. The principle behind Getting Things Done is simple: you immediately tackle a task that you can complete in one step in less than 2 minutes. All other tasks are either scheduled, delegated or eliminated.
As with efficient and effective, time blocking and timeboxing are not the same thing. While timeblocking is nothing more than reserving time for certain activities in the calendar, timeboxing goes one step further and says: You only have this much time to complete the task. Not a second longer. The aim is to work as efficiently as possible.
Just because you work efficiently does not mean that you are effective. To know whether you have achieved your personal or company goals to the desired standard, you need to monitor the results.
This is quite simple with a plan/actual comparison. You take the planned goals, for example writing and publishing a blog article on the topic “Difference between efficient and effective”, and measure not only how long it took you (were you efficient?) but also whether the desired quality was achieved - length of X words and at least 4 practical tips.
If the effectiveness is to be monitored more precisely and above all in terms of efficiency and cost effectiveness, then an earned value analysis makes sense. In project management, this is part of project controlling.
The InLoox project management software is designed to make your everyday project work easier and more effective, so that you can make your personal contribution to the project success with less effort. Here we show you three practical examples and tips on how you can work efficiently with InLoox:
With InLoox's Outlook integration, you can easily convert emails into tasks with just one click. This improves your workflow and makes you more efficient, as you save time and effort that would be required to create tasks manually. If you follow the Think-Schedule-Do principle, you can efficiently organize your inbox.
Image: InLoox for Outlook - Turn emails into tasks ©InLoox GmbH
With time tracking in InLoox, you can not only record billable hours, but also identify time wasters. By regularly using the integrated InLoox stopwatch, you get an overview of which tasks you spend too much time on, or which tasks you should eliminate or delegate.
Image: InLoox for Outlook - time tracking with the InLoox stop watch ©InLoox GmbH
From a business perspective, the use of resources - that is of the people working on your projects - is equivalent to expenditure. It is therefore particularly important to manage them carefully. InLoox enables you to keep an overview of the workload in your team, department and company. This enables you to manage your employees more efficiently and avoid overloading individuals or "wasting" too many resources on a simple task.
Image: InLoox Web App - Resource overview with Outlook appointments ©InLoox GmbH