Meaning & use
increase efficiency
Last updated
Meaning
phrasetransitive
To make a process or system work better with less waste of time, money, or effort.
Grammar: Takes an object: increase efficiency in something, or increase something's efficiency.
Patterns
- increase efficiency in something
- increase efficiency by doing something
- increase the efficiency of something
The company introduced new software to increase efficiency in its customer service.
We need to increase efficiency by cutting unnecessary steps.
Regular maintenance can increase the efficiency of the machines.
Common combinations
- increase efficiency significantly
- The new system increased efficiency significantly.
- increase efficiency in the workplace
- Managers are always looking for ways to increase efficiency in the workplace.
- ways to increase efficiency
- The workshop focused on ways to increase efficiency.
- increase efficiency and reduce costs
- The goal is to increase efficiency and reduce costs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- improve efficiency
- Very similar, but 'improve' can also mean making something better in quality, not just faster or less wasteful.
- boost productivity
- Focuses on output per worker or per hour, rather than on reducing waste in a process.
- streamline
- Suggests simplifying a process by removing unnecessary parts, often as a way to increase efficiency.
Opposites
Word family
- efficiency noun
- The quality of working well without waste.
- efficient adjective
- Working well and without waste.
- efficiently adverb
- In a way that works well without waste.
Commonly confused: increase efficiency or increase effectiveness?
increase efficiency vs increase effectiveness
'Effectiveness' is about achieving the desired result, while 'efficiency' is about doing so with minimal waste. You can be effective but not efficient.
Practice
The manager suggested that we ___ efficiency by automating routine tasks.
Choose one answer.
After 'we', the base form 'increase' is needed to form the present subjunctive or simple present. 'Increasing' would need an auxiliary verb, 'to increase' is an infinitive and doesn't fit after 'we', and 'increased' is past tense and doesn't match the suggestion structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “increase efficiency”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.