Maduro Cleaning is a small organization that provides cleaning services to both residential and commercial clients. As a small organization, the owner assigns crews of two, three, or four employees to jobs each morning but the owner does not have a good method of determining a reasonable amount of time that each cleaning should take. The owner decided to keep data on job times and crew sizes in the hopes of developing a productivity measure.
Address the following requirements:
Calculate which of the crew sizes has the best productivity per worker and explain your method.
Evaluate your outcome and the possible reasons that would explain those results.
Project what the productivity might be for a crew size of five and explain your reasoning.
Crew Size Avg: Productivity per Crew
2: 3765 square meters per day
3: 4915 square meters per day
4: 6309 square meters per day
Full Answer Section
- Communication and coordination: Smaller teams might have better communication and coordination, reducing wasted time and effort.
- Supervision and oversight: The owner might be able to provide more direct supervision to smaller crews, ensuring they stay focused and productive.
Projecting Productivity for a Crew Size of 5
Based on the trend observed in the data, it's reasonable to assume that the productivity per worker for a Crew Size 5 would be lower than for Crew Size 4. The diminishing returns from adding more workers might become even more pronounced with a larger crew.
However, it's important to note that this is a projection based on past data. Actual productivity might vary due to other factors, such as the complexity of the cleaning tasks, the experience level of the workers, and the overall efficiency of the organization.
Sample Answer
Calculating Productivity per Worker
Productivity per worker can be calculated by dividing the total square meters cleaned per day by the number of workers in the crew.
- Crew Size 2: 3765 square meters / 2 workers = 1882.5 square meters per worker
- Crew Size 3: 4915 square meters / 3 workers = 1638.33 square meters per worker
- Crew Size 4: 6309 square meters / 4 workers = 1577.25 square meters per worker
Based on these calculations, Crew Size 2 has the best productivity per worker.
Evaluating Outcome and Possible Reasons
The unexpected result, with Crew Size 2 outperforming larger crews, might be attributed to several factors:
- Economies of scale: While larger crews might seem more efficient, there could be a point of diminishing returns where additional workers start to interfere with each other or become less productive.
- Task specialization: Smaller crews might be able to specialize in specific tasks, leading to greater efficiency.