“Efficiency” and “Effectiveness” are the two common words/terms which are used in daily work life. If you observe they are interchangeable in a speech and it still make sense. But they are not exactly the same. I once heard a speech and the orator explained the difference between these two terms in a very simple and interesting way. He said that efficiency is “doing the work right” and effectiveness is “doing the right work“. Isn’t that very simple? They look almost the same and it’s just the interchange 2 words, but there is a big difference… Everyone has to be efficient. There is no option for other than everyone to do their work right. Effectiveness is an action by a leader. It is important for a leader to be effective. Let me illustrate with an example. Let’s consider sports as in the game of soccer, all the 10 players have to be efficient but the captain has to be effective. The captain should decide who should play and in which position should each player play. The captain should plan the strategies by being aware of the strengths of their own team and the weakness of the opponents. The point to be noted here is that both efficiency and effectiveness are indispensable and none of them can be compromised. They are inseparable like the two sides of the same coin. The EFFECTIVENESS of an individual can be judged by how EFFICIENTLY they manage the resources that are available to them. Leaders, go ahead and Efficiently check your Effectiveness! image courtesy: theyoungprofessionalgroup.com