What productivity innovation consulting actually is

“We got faster” is a feeling, and a feeling is easy to invoice. The real version is plain. One job. Last week’s hours, written down before anyone opens a catalogue of tools. A change to the steps, not a new place to type the same steps. A date. On that date, the hours moved and people left the old way, or you stop.

The OECD files this with changes to how a company works, not with new products. You are the customer. A new product has to be something a buyer can get. A productivity change has to be used by the people who were slow. Both can be worth doing. They are not the same project, and they should not share the same reason to stop.

What a serious proposal includes

The job. Last week’s hours. What you will not let the software do on its own, especially spend money or send a message. A check on Friday. That is enough for a decision.

A list of platforms before anyone has timed the job, a dashboard of a delay that is still there, twelve workflows in one contract, or a promise that software will “run the department” are ways to spend a quarter without a number finance can use. If a firm will not write last week’s hours because that is “part of discovery,” they plan to find the number after you have paid for the tool.

What we will do

If the job is still unclear, Spark is $750. You get a written yes, a change to the idea, or a no. You keep the note. If you already have the hours, Pilot is $3,500. One job goes live, and you can read a number in two weeks. Software can prepare the work when a person was repeating that preparation. A named person still sends the money and the message.

If it sticks and you still want a team on it, Pod is $3,000 a month. That is 40 hours, and you can cancel with 30 days’ notice. What we built stays yours. We will not keep a monthly fee so we can watch a screen for a job people have already abandoned.

The number that matters

Count the job. Ideas, meetings, and projects “in progress” tell you the team was occupied. They do not tell you the monthly close got shorter. Write last week’s number where finance can see it. Write the new number on the date you chose. If people quietly opened the spreadsheet again, the change did not stick, however new the screen looks.

This week

1. 01

   One job

   A queue, a monthly close, a handoff between two people. “Digital transformation” is a budget. It is not a job you can time.

2. 02

   Last week’s hours

   Written down by the people who did the work. Without that number, you cannot say later that anything got faster.

3. 03

   Fewer steps

   If the steps are the same and only the login changed, people are typing in a new place. The work did not get shorter.

4. 04

   A check on Friday

   People use the new way, or they go back. An email announcing the launch is not the result.

Common mistakes

• Counting the program

  Workshops held and tools rolled out show that people were busy. Ask whether Tuesday got shorter. Ask for last week’s hours.

• Letting the software send

  Faster refunds, bookings, and emails feel like a win until one of them is wrong. Drafting can be automatic. A person should still press send.

Questions

What is productivity innovation consulting?

A short piece of work that names one job inside the company, times it, and says whether a better way is worth building. You know it worked when the hours move and people keep the new way. A report that says “explore automation” is not the work.

How is this different from product innovation?

Product innovation puts a new or improved product or service in a customer’s hands. Productivity innovation changes how your own team does one job. Different person, different proof, different reason to stop. The OECD separates them for that reason.