MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • LOGIN
  • SIGN UP FREE

CFO Daily News

MENUMENU
  • FREE RESOURCES
        • Accounts Payable
          Finally! The trick to securing greater T&E compliance
          Benefits
          Rooting out folks who don’t belong on your health plan: A 6-point dependent audit checklist
          IT
          3 costly misconceptions about biz email compromise
          Credit and Collections
          Collecting via email: 4 must-make moves in your subject line
          Accounts Payable
          5 Tough-to-spot signs that an invoice is fake
  • PREMIUM CONTENT
        • Staff management
          120 Proven Communications Tips for Today’s CFO
        • Payroll
          Handling Nonexempt Employee Pay: Stay Compliant and Avoid DOL Audits
          Accounts Payable
          T&E Best Practices: Complete Guide to Ensure Compliance
          Payroll
          Payroll Best Practices: 4 Ways to Save Time and Money
        • Staff management
          Email Best Practices: A 6-Question Quiz
          Staff management
          Innovative Communications Strategies: An Email Case Study
          Staff management
          A 5-part Framework for Successful Workplace Communications
        • SEE MORE
          PREMIUM RESOURCES
  • CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Payroll
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Finance Technology
  • More
    • Employment Law
    • Strategy
    • Policy and Culture
    • Fraud
    • Payments and Transactions
    • Budgeting and Forecasting
    • Banking
    • Staff Management
    • Cost Control
    • Supply Chain
    • IT

Are you making the most of Finance’s peak productivity times?

Jennifer Azara
by Jennifer Azara
November 10, 2014
2 minute read
  • SHARE ON

productivity times

Productivity – of course you want to do everything you can to maximize it in your finance department.  

And much of that comes down to timing.

That’s the finding of a recent survey of employees by The Creative Group. It specifically surveyed marketing professionals, but the learning can apply to any type of office worker, Finance included.

The survey asked folks to identify two things:

  1. The hours they were most productive, and
  2. The hours they were most creative.

Take these findings to make sure you’re structuring your staffers’ days (and your own) to make the most of it.

With year-end fast approaching, making some adjustments now to get staffers in the sweet spot can smooth things this go-around.

When are people most productive?

If you’re looking for the window when the bulk of your finance staffers will be at their most productive, look at the first half of the workday.

From 10 am – 12 p.m. is the No. 1 answer in the Creative Group study. Nearly a third of folks ID’d that as their productivity peak.  So if at all possible, you want to avoid scheduling  productivity-crushers like meetings at that time.

You might even consider some Finance Quiet Hours so staffers can really make the most of these hours when they feel they’re firing on all cylinders.

Note: There is a group of people who get the most done from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. So that might be another option for some uninterrupted work time.

When are they most creative?

If, however, you’re looking to hold a brainstorming session on how to improve Finance’s monthly reporting, try to grab staffers when they’re fresh and just in the office.

From 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. is the No. 1 window for peak creativity, according to the survey. And nearly three-quarters say the morning in general is best for their getting their creative juices flowing.

You probably won’t have a task that requires major creative input every day. But when you do, you’ll want to time it so that you get the most from your staffers.

Make their findings work better for you

Granted, the data here is based on other people’s views of their productivity and creativity levels. Your own staffers may have different opinions on when they’re most productive and most creative.

This little exercise can help your people figure it out for themselves.

Let the survey serve as a springboard to get your own team members’ opinions.

Create a form where you block the workday into two-hour intervals, Monday through Friday. Then for a week, have your people track when they’re feeling particularly productive or creative.

Patterns should emerge. And even if you can’t restructure the way Finance runs as a whole, individual staffers may be able to use their findings to their own advantage to get the job done more efficiently and effectively.

And that’s great for your department as a whole.

Jennifer Azara
Jennifer Azara
Jennifer, a member of the CFO Daily News staff, has covered business and finance for more than 22 years. She has written for CFOs, credit and collections professionals and accounts payable practitioners and has spoken at industry conferences on sales and use tax compliance.

Keep Up To Date with the Latest Finance News

With CFO Daily News arriving in your inbox, you will never miss critical stories on accounting, benefits, payroll & employment law strategies.

Sign up for a free CFO Daily News membership and get our newsletter!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
CFO Daily News Logo
  • ABOUT CFO DAILY NEWS
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • WRITE FOR US
  • CONTACT
  • Accounting
  • Benefits
  • Payroll
  • Policy and Culture
  • Employment Law
  • Fraud
  • Finance Technology
  • Accounts Payable
  • Credit and Collections
  • Strategy
  • Payments and Transactions
  • Budgeting and Forecasting
  • Banking
  • Staff Management
  • Cost Control
  • Supply Chain
  • IT

CFO Daily News, part of the SuccessFuel Network, provides the latest Finance and employment law news for Finance professionals in the trenches of small-to-medium-sized businesses. Rather than simply regurgitating the day’s headlines, CFO Daily News delivers actionable insights, helping Finance execs understand what Finance trends mean to their business.

Privacy Policy Terms of Service
Copyright © 2021 SuccessFuel

WELCOME BACK!

Enter your username and password below to log in

Forget Your Username or Password?

Reset Password

Lost your password? Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.

Log In

preloader