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Productivity
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Defining Productivity
What Is Productivity? 3
Why Is Productivity Important? 4
What Impact Has the Pandemic Had on Productivity? 4
Redefining Productivity Post Pandemic 6
The Biggest Productivity Blockers for Individuals & Teams 7
How Individuals & Teams Can Unlock Productivity 8
Conclusion
References & Resources
Defining Productivity
Productivity has become an increasingly common feature in all kinds of workplaces and
systems, traditional and social media—and in our daily lives. In everything we do, whether
it’s building an apartment block, going for a run, or signing a document, we are more or less
productive in that task, depending on how much of it we do over a certain time.
What Is Productivity?
Productivity is neither how much we get done, nor how quickly we get it done, but rather a
combination of these two things. Productivity, then, is about how much we get done over a
period of time.
Another way to define productivity, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD), is the ‘ratio between the output volume and the volume of inputs.
In other words, it measures how efficiently production outputs, such as labour and capital are
being used in an economy to produce a given level of output.’1
The OECD defines productivity in economic terms, referencing GPD or “Gross Domestic
Product,” which comes down to the monetary output per capita over a given period.
Simply put:
Investopedia elaborates on the details of input when calculating the productivity of overall
labor: ‘[It] is calculated by dividing the goods and services produced by the total hours [of] a
company’s employees during a certain period of time.’2
Based on the above calculation, the company’s productivity equals 10, and, by extension,
Productivity is something that our culture has become obsessed with and, as a result, many
individuals are hard-wired to function in an always-productive state—even after working
hours. While this culture of always being switched on and always producing something isn’t a
healthy one for individuals, it’s important for businesses to be able to measure and optimize
productivity.
In business and at work, productivity is critical to success. Our work and business
achievements are most impactful when they’re done within a given time frame. Remove time
from the equation and great work quickly becomes obsolete and dated.
The study results suggest that ‘[t]he overall effects of Covid-19 on productivity mask some
large and offsetting forces. Businesses anticipate a large reduction in productivity within
firms, partly because measures to contain Covid-19 are expected to increase intermediate
costs. The negative within-firm effect is partially offset by a positive between effect as low
productivity sectors, and the least productive firms among them, are disproportionately
affected and consequently make a smaller contribution to the economy.’4
In “non-essential” industries where most employees could still carry out their day-to-
day work in a remote setting, the pandemic’s impact on productivity has been surprising.
According to an article by Forbes on Productivity In Times Of Covid, human productivity
has remained stable—and even increased—during the pandemic, but for various reasons,
innovation has seen a decline.
According to the article, which references a Wharton study done in partnership with Microsoft
and the Boston Consulting Group, and ‘involved 9,000 managers and employees from firms
across 15 European countries,’ productivity during the pandemic saw an increase likely
because working remotely gave employees the freedom to create a working environment
that caters to their specific needs. ‘This extends to things like the choice of work attire, the
availability of pets, and the ability to personalize their workplace entirely.’5
Furthermore, the study noted that the productivity of employees without children also
increase ‘because they weren’t disrupted as often as they would ordinarily be in the office.’5
Other reasons cited for increased productivity during remote work included fewer meetings
and a step away from the open office environment.
As the pandemic begins to subside in many parts of the world and restrictions around in-
office work for “non-essential” workers are lifted, many businesses are considering what
post-pandemic work might look like to them. Some are decided on 100% in-office work and
others are selling up or downsizing their office space and fully embracing remote work. It’s
likely, however, that, where possible, many will instead opt for a hybrid working model, a
combination of in-office and remote work.
According to a research article published by the McKinsey Global Institute, What’s next for
remote work: An analysis of 2,000 tasks, 800 jobs, and nine countries, ‘Hybrid models of
remote work are likely to persist in the wake of the pandemic, mostly for a highly educated,
well-paid minority of the workforce.’6
The study notes that ‘the potential for remote work is highly concentrated among highly
skilled, highly educated workers in a handful of industries, occupations, and geographies’ and
that ‘[m]ore than 20 percent of the workforce could work remotely three to five days a week
as effectively as they could if working from an office.’6
At the start of the pandemic, when non-essential workers were first ordered to work from
home, many managers faced uncertainty about no longer being able to control or monitor
Other productivity cues like always being online, always being on call, or always having the
video switched on during video calls are fast becoming outdated and unrealistic signals of
productivity. According to another Forbes article, titled Rethinking Productivity In A Remote
Working World, author Cecile Alper-Leroux notes that, ‘Leaders must guide and trust, shifting
their expectation from monitoring to connecting and measuring. The idea [of] “work-life
balance” has been exposed as a fallacy in this new environment, where life and work are
inextricably connected.’7
She adds that as an alternative to these traditional measures, managers should instead focus
on results. ‘As long as work is done well and in an appropriate time frame (with consideration
for the individual’s circumstances—this is crucial), managers must now give employees the
liberty to manage their work and time.’7
Most hindrances to productivity for individuals will almost certainly overlap into the team’s
space and cause a disruption or slowdown in productivity on a wider scale, too. From a lack
of prioritization and communication, to distractions and constant notifications, productivity
blockers are ubiquitous in any work environment and can only be kept at bay with
intentionality.
The most common productivity blockers for individuals and teams are:
• Lack of communication
• Poor time management
• Failure to prioritize efficiently
• Lack of resources
• Distractions and constant notifications
• Excessive meetings and calls
Just as individuals and teams may be less productive due to certain internal or external
factors, once these are identified, a game plan can easily be set in place to mitigate these
blockers. Here are the simplest and most effective strategies to put productivity blockers to
rest:
Ramp up communication.
In a world where remote and hybrid work will become more commonplace,
communication is essential to keeping teams up to speed and in the loop.
Teams should ensure effective communication by keeping information
about a project or task to the essentials and via an agreed central platform.
Prioritize work.
Priority means ‘to come before everything else,’ which means that
technically there should only ever be one priority in a queue of important
things to do. Teams and individuals can decide for themselves what needs
prioritizing based on unique needs, but a good measure of a priority is that
Invented to make an impractical task simple, Smallpdf’s suite of tools has helped over 500
million people around the world get work done better and faster, not only by supporting
digital work, but by helping users complete a full range of digital document tasks that suit
them and their unique workflows.
• Converting PDFs to Word, Excel, JPG, and PowerPoint, and back again
• Compressing PDFs up to 70% of the original document size without compromising on
document integrity
• E-signing PDFs and requesting signatures
• Scanning PDFs with the Smallpdf Mobile App
• Merging and splitting PDF documents
• Adding page numbers
• Encrypting and decrypting PDFs
• Editing PDFs, including adding text, highlights, shapes, and images
Not only are multiple tools on offer to complete certain document tasks, but the company has
taken a “document first” approach that allows the user to execute multiple tasks as part of a
single document workflow, so they never have to jump from one tool to the next to finish the
sequence of tasks. The software also carries a sharing function, which makes it easy for users
to share documents and collaborate without having to leave the platform.
From both an individual and team perspective, PDF tools like these that address real-world
document management challenges offer benefits and support productivity in many ways:
As much as digital development was leading the charge in digital transformation, the forced
shift to remote work has made an indelible impact on—and accelerated—the development
of more sophisticated tools for digital document management. Even though businesses
are showing a mixed view of post-pandemic work, how are they approaching digital
transformation?
The statistics note that 87% of businesses believe that the digital revolution will come to
disrupt their industry, but only 44% of these businesses say they are prepared for this.
Moreover, it was noted that embracing digital transformation and focusing on customer
experience combined, resulted in a boost of up to 30% in customer satisfaction and business
growth potential of up to 50%.9
With the most used document type in business and contracts today being the PDF, and the
top document processes in businesses being e-signing, editing, converting, and compressing
PDFs, it’s clear that easy-to-use PDF tools are the quickest route to digital transformation—
and business resilience.
Adopting e-signing as standard practice vs. traditional signatures has proven beneficial not
only to the individuals using the tools, but to overall business practice and document hygiene.
This not only supports a better, more efficient work environment, but a healthier, more
connected document ecosystem that supports the wider business.
Whether working remotely, in-office, or in a hybrid work situation, it’s clear that e-signing
is a critical tool among many, not only to drive digital transformation, but also to enhance
productivity, and streamline document management processes companywide.
One of the most time consuming workflows in document processing with traditional PDF
software is the need to save and reopen files after every change made. To mitigate this hassle,
Smallpdf created its “Connected Tools” feature, which helps the user to move seamlessly
between different functions.
An example of this would be to continue working on a document, even after it has been
converted. Once the original file is converted, the user can keep working on the same
document, using other tools presented on the result page.
The Smallpdf Mobile App brings all the essentials of Smallpdf’s suite of web tools to mobile.
Available on both Android and iOS, this is the companion app for individuals and teams
who need to manage their documents remotely or on the go. The app has tools for scanning
documents, editing scans, viewing, compressing, converting, e-signing, editing, organizing,
and highlighting PDFs—all in one place.
The Smallpdf Mobile App is the quickest, smartest way to create a paperless document
management system for individuals and teams on the go. All documents created or edited
using the app are automatically imported to the web application for cross-functional use and
easier online document access and management.
The Smallpdf Desktop App for Windows allows users to process documents faster and totally
offline. Many industries require the additional security of processing and signing sensitive
documents without ever having to go online. This app answers this need and supports
users who need to process and sign documents, but have unreliable or limited access to the
internet.
Perfect for sensitive, off-cloud documentation management and for users with unreliable
internet access, the Smallpdf Desktop App brings essential PDF tools offline.
The Smallpdf Chrome Extension behaves like a bookmark, giving Chrome users easy access
A second function of the extension when opening up a PDF with Chrome is to provide a
“Tools” option on the left side of the browser. This can be used to open the PDF with one of
Smallpdf’s tools to complete the selected document process.
The Smallpdf Chrome Extension also integrates with Gmail, allowing the user to compress any
PDF to an email-friendly size without ever leaving Gmail.
Smallpdf’s integration with Google allows users to send PDFs to Smallpdf’s platform straight
from Google Drive. The app can be installed from the Chrome Web Store and, once installed, a
right click on any PDF will send it to Smallpdf.
Better yet, there is also an option to enable this functionality for an entire team using the
team domain. Once completed, everyone using the registered domain should be able to see
and use this Smallpdf app. Users with the Google Workspace App who also have a Pro, Team,
or Business subscription should have unlimited access to Smallpdf’s entire suite of tools.
Dropbox App
With Smallpdf’s Dropbox App, document management is simplified with tools to convert,
By using Smallpdf’s Dropbox App, users can compress and convert files, reducing file size
and converting PDFs to other file formats, like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and JPG. Users also
save time editing, with tools to edit, split, reorder, or merge PDFs, available within Dropbox.
Encryption and decryption are also possible to ensure document and file sharing security.
Finally, documents can be signed and signatures requested directly from Dropbox without the
need to print documents or install any special software.
The Smallpdf Dropbox App brings a world of PDF management tools to the world’s best file
hosting service for a powerful all-in-one document management experience.
Smallpdf has a growing list of apps, extensions, and integrations. Click here to view them all
and stay up to date with any new updates and additions.
While a traditional Pro account gives an individual user access to all Smallpdf tools, Smallpdf
for Teams and Smallpdf for Business offer the same premium access to tools, but with a host
of other built-in benefits that make billing management, team oversight, and support a cinch
for busy managers.
Teams also have the added advantage of paying less per license per user and can establish
their accounts and teams through self-signup. The team account administrator can easily add
Smallpdf for Teams and Smallpdf for Business users have access to the following benefits
beyond premium access to the 20+ PDF tools:
Beyond the manifold benefits that come with Smallpdf for Teams and Smallpdf for Business,
teams and businesses get to enjoy the streamlined feature of having all their users hosted in
one place as well as the software’s latest collaborative feature of document sharing.
Quicker, smarter work with PDFs and other documents means that bottlenecks can be
addressed faster, documents can easily be shared and accessed, and teams can spend more
time on the important things, thanks to time and cost savings.
Software employed should essentially eliminate any security risks like unauthorized access
and document tampering, and should also be in compliance with data handling laws as well
as recognized best practices. The following are important security features to look out for
• Digital signing
• Long-Term Validation (LTV) timestamp
• CCPA compliance
• GDPR compliance
• TLS encryption
• ISO 27001 accreditation
• eIDAS compliance
While it’s critical that teams and businesses check in with local laws to assess the legal
requirements around local document management and signing, the above are some of the
most important security features to consider. These all come standard with Smallpdf’s paid
plans.
Smallpdf also removes files after one hour of processing and employs TLS encryption for
all file transfers. Digital signing comes with a signed timestamp that cannot be forged. This
mechanism records the time a user placed their signature on the document.
Surprisingly, the pandemic showed us that remote work is not only feasible in the long term,
but that it can foster even higher rates of productivity. This supports the idea that, where
suitable, remote and hybrid work settings are entirely feasible post pandemic and, simply put,
make good business sense.
However, while productivity was shown to be stable or even enhanced through remote work,
it was innovation that saw a decline during the pandemic, which could have been due to
more limited opportunities and tools for collaboration. Another likely force at play is a shift by
businesses into a more conservative mode of operating in response to such a seismic event,
resulting in less spending, a view to preserving and conserving the status quo, and taking
fewer risks. To what extent remote work is responsible for a drop in innovation remains to be
seen.
What is clear, though, is that productivity is buoyed by a number of individual and team-wide
factors, including improved communication, setting boundaries, prioritization, and investing
in the right tools to streamline document processes and foster collaboration and sharing.
The right PDF tools in this context represent a powerful force in business, not only in
supporting individuals in working smarter, faster, and collaborating more effectively, but in
the overall process of digital transformation. With that come the added benefits of simplifying
tasks, enjoying superior document security and cost savings, as well as mitigating the
environmental burden of traditional document management.
A business cannot be productive—and therefore profitable—if its people are not. This is why
The digital revolution is upon us and fewer than 40% of businesses consider themselves ready
for it. Addressing productivity with the right document management tools is a small step
towards digital transformation that promises not only big wins for individuals and teams, but
a real investment in resilience and longevity for businesses in the face of a working world that
will never again look the same.