Productivity is traditionally calculated with a simple division: total output / total input. Great for measuring widget production, not so much for gauging how productive a knowledge worker has been.

So how do we measure productivity when there isn’t a widget in sight?

In this week’s episode of The Mind Tools L&D Podcast, Gemma and Ross Garner are joined by Chelsea Pyrzenski, Global Chief People Officer at WalkMe, to discuss:

What we mean by productivity

How we measure productivity in different contexts
The challenges in convincing others to measure differently.

In ‘What I Learned This Week’, Ross discussed reasons why the Wirecutter is losing readership. He was referring to The Atlantic’s article ‘What happened to Wirecutter?’

Gemma’s learning about one of the chemical compounds responsible for petrichor came from Losing Eden by Lucy Jones. She discovered even more about geosmin in The Scientist’s article, ‘The unusual functions of geosmin’.

To find out about WalkMe’s platform and other solutions, visit walkme.com.

For more from Mind Tools, including access to our back catalogue of podcasts, visit mindtoolsbusiness.com. There, you'll also find details of our award-winning performance support toolkit, our off-the-shelf e-learning, and our custom work. 

You can also contact rgarner@mindtools.com.

Connect with our speakers 

If you'd like to share your thoughts on this episode, connect with our speakers:

Ross Garner

361 — How do we measure productivity?

The Mindtools L&D Podcast