Smarter ways to boost productivity without the heavy lift

Hi there,

Summer’s ending, and the pressure to hit year-end targets is setting in. But keeping people engaged and productive (without overwhelming them or yourself) isn’t easy. 

That’s why this month, we’re helping you quickly spot where productivity might be leaking – and what you can do about it using tools you likely already have. 

One of the easiest ways to get started is by:  

📘 Read our new guide to understand what productivity really means and why many organizations measure it wrong 

 📊 Run a quick pulse survey to identify productivity blockers in a specific team or department 

 ✈️ See how other customers (like Icelandair) are using pulses to improve productivity and wellbeing

New guide: Busy doesn't mean productive – and the top 5 trends affecting productivity in Europe 

Get our new guide to understand what productivity really means, uncover common misconceptions, and explore the top 5 trends affecting it in Europe.   

If when productivity dips in your organization, your leaders turn straight to dashboards (KPIs, revenue, targets), then this read is for you.  

Productivity tools help you boost productivity without the heavy lift 

No time (or energy) for big surveys? No problem. You don’t need a huge survey plan or follow-up to make real progress. Here are tools already in your package – or available to try – that help you improve performance: 

→ Pulse surveys: Quick to launch, easy to follow up on. Pulse surveys help you zoom in on a specific topic, challenge, team, or department. You get focused, fresh feedback without the need for heavy planning.

→ Strategic Fitness Model: This tool helps you measure two essentials for productivity: engagement (willingness) and enablement (conditions). It shows you where the real gaps are, so you know where to act.

→ HRIS integrations: Automatically sync your employee data between Effectory and your HR system. This saves you time, reduces manual work, and improves data accuracy, so you can launch surveys with less effort and better results. 

Icelandair's secret to boosting crew wellbeing: sort, sharp pulse surveys

During their busiest months, Icelandair faced a challenge many organizations will recognize: how do you keep operations running smoothly and support the wellbeing of your people?  

Rather than send out a full engagement survey, they turned to short, sharp pulse surveys – targeted check-ins focused on workload and wellbeing among their cabin crew. The result after just one year:  

✈️11% drop in work pressure during peak months 
✈️ 60% improvement in work balance 
✈️ 3% boost in energy levels 

It’s a powerful example of what can happen when you make feedback simpler, faster, and more focused. 

Updated Question Library: A new way to view your survey questions

The new Question Library gives central and project coordinators one place to view all survey questions available for their project, including translations. It helps you keep your questions organized at the project level, so it’s easier to build the right survey every time.

Right now, the library is view-only, which means you can browse the full list of questions, but you can’t make changes yet.

Future updates will include options to: 

• Add custom questions 

• Manage translations for custom questions 

• Tailor variable names for validated questions* 

The rollout is happening in phases. Some users already have access, and others will receive it by 19 September. 

*Functionality may vary depending on your plan. 

New ways to manage your surveys — even after they’re live

You now have more flexibility to adapt and manage surveys in My Effectory, so you stay in control, even after launch. You can: 

• Stop a running survey early – for example, if you’ve already reached 100% response or need to halt it for another reason 
• Archive completed or closed surveys to keep your dashboard clean
• Schedule surveys more flexibly during setup – launch immediately, pick a future date, or set recurring timing 
• Add participants to existing groups – they’ll automatically get an invitation
• Remove participants from a live survey – note: if they’ve already responded, their answers will be permanently deleted 

These updates help you adjust surveys as needed without starting over. 

Say hi to Effy – your new chatbot support

We’ve launched a chatbot! Effy is now live on our support page and ready to help with quick answers to your questions. She speaks English, Dutch, and German (and automatically picks up your language).  

If she doesn’t know the answer, she’ll connect you to our Helpdesk. 

This is a test run, so Effy’s still learning. But give her a try and let us know what you think! You’ll also find Effy directly in My Effectory starting this month.  

Say hi to Effy 

Help shape our features - your voice counts!

Your feedback drives our innovation. Tell us what features you need for better results and see them come to life.

(Currently only in English)

Until next time,

Your Effectory Team