Is Your Company Confusing Efficiency and Effectiveness?

Efficiency and effectiveness are two terms that are commonly thrown around, and often misinterpreted when talking about improving your business but what’s the real difference between them? Let’s start with some definitions in general terms as found in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Effective (adj.) – producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect

Efficient (adj.) – capable of producing desired results with little or no waste

The difference between them is about doing a task well (efficiency) versus doing the right task to achieve the desired goal (Effectiveness). Another way to look at it is that an efficient task is one that is done in the right way and an effective task is one that has value to the organization or to a customer. Here’s another example: your sales agents may be making the required number of calls per day, so they are efficient, but they are not closing any sales, thus they are not effective.

The key is finding the right balance between efficiency and effectiveness. You want to have systems and services that are done right but also ones that achieve the desired goals. QSSI assists SMEs with achieving this balance with implementation services and training in Quality Management Systems. Every area of a business, from Sales to Delivery of the Product or Service, can and should have systems in place in order for the business to provide effective and efficient service delivery and inevitably be profitable.

Interested in improving your business’ efficiency and effectiveness? Give us a call and we can help.