ProductivityBrand

I'm the founder of ProductivitBrand, a business efficiency agency. As a Business Efficiency Consultant, I focus on maximizing the efficiency and productivity of remote businesses or businesses transitioning to remote work. I specialize in optimizing service delivery processes and processes that intersect directly with service delivery, such as knowledge management and communication. I work with tools like Notion, Clickup, Confluence, Monday.com, Zapier, Make.com, and many more.

Business Efficiency Consultant ● Process Improvement & Automation Speacialist

1:1 client sessions on how to improve their personal productivity so they find more time to do the projects and activities they want to.

I helped my clients to:

⚫ Discover strategies and techniques to help achieve their priorities. 
⚫ End procrastination 
⚫ Determine their weekly and daily priorities. 
⚫ Clarify where they should focus their time and energy each day.
⚫ Organize thoughts and ideas.
⚫ Replace feelings of overwhelm with clarity and focus.
⚫ Feel more in control of their time.
⚫ Clarify their short and long-term goals.
⚫Adopt the habits of their best self.
⚫ Track progress towards their goals.

Productivity Consultant / Coach

HARMAN International

Improved back-office operations through streamlined processes and enhanced efficiency, with a focus on comprehensive analysis and reporting for middle and senior management. As a Salesforce super user, led initiatives to optimize team productivity, with notable achievements:

⚫ Trained sales and service teams to elevate SFDC adoption.
⚫ Developed and implemented reporting sets and dashboards;
⚫ Conducted training sessions for new team members on Salesforce;
⚫ Established best practices for Sales & Service Cloud applications;
⚫ Evaluating new system developments;
⚫ Maintained data integrity and ensured ongoing system hygiene;

Sales  Coordinator 

Austrian National Tourist Office

Delivered strategic insights through comprehensive market research on competitor activities and political, social, and economic trends in the Dutch leisure market. Identified and analyzed market trends, providing actionable conclusions to pertinent stakeholders.

Market Research Analyst

Sole Technology

Optimized the Order-to-Cash process across EMEA by initiating projects to automate manual workflows and enhance existing processes. Conducted comprehensive training sessions for sales, service, and collections teams, facilitating seamless adoption of new processes.

Provided valuable insights through sales and margin analyses, offering management a holistic view of key financial metrics.

Process Analyst

Maximizing the efficiency and productivity of remote businesses | Automation & Process Optimization | Notion Consulting

👩‍💻 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙚:

I'm Daniela, a Business Efficiency Consultant and the founder of ProductivitBrand. My agency specializes in optimizing and automating the processes of remote businesses. My focus is on improving, developing, and implementing task and knowledge management systems.

Founding my own business was actually an item on my bucket list, one that I always postponed ticking off. It seemed scary, and it is, but I love it and do what I always wanted to do. 

I have over a decade of experience in process improvement, automation, and team productivity, and these three have always been my superpowers. Over the years, I've learned that processes are important, technology is important, but people are most important in business optimization projects. Finding a balance between those aspects is something I'm really invested in. 

🤝 𝙈𝙮 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨

My clients are small—to medium-sized remote businesses from all over the world. They are often service-based, excellent in their niche, and have a high growth rate. Usually, they have been very busy building their business for years, and process improvement and automation weren't a priority. These clients appreciate that I can understand their business super fast and translate what they want into technical requirements. 

💡 𝘼𝙢 𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪?

We work well together if you care about measurable results, a structured and extremely organized approach, and an excellent client experience. You don't want to automate/optimize just one process but want to know how it all fits together in the bigger picture of your business. I always keep the bigger picture in mind and look for solutions that grow with you, are sustainable, and are solid in all aspects. 

📈 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙊𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨:

⚪Process Optimization & Automation:
I specialize in making remote, service-based businesses more efficient and profitable. Whether your goal is to grow your business, get it ready for sale, or simply increase your profits, I have the expertise and tools to help you succeed.

⚪ Knowledge Management Systems: I develop and implement company wikis and personal knowledge management systems using platforms like Confluence, Notion, ClickUp, Document360, and SharePoint.

🔗 I'm always happy to connect with like-minded professionals and service providers with complementary services.

💼 If you're looking to start your next business optimization project and my profile resonates with you, I´d be happy to chat with you to see what I can do for your project.

When I decided to start ProductivityBrand, I thought starting a business was taking your superpower to the market and trying to sell it as a service.

I thought 80% was technical skills, and the rest would fall into place by itself.

Now I know 80% is everything else except that technical skill.

Because humans buy from humans.
Why people buy is not a rational, objective process.

And that's amazing because it offers opportunities for everyone to find their tribe. Not just for the best or the smartest.

It's trial and error, survival, and learning things I never thought I would have to learn.

But that's what I love about it. There's never a dull moment 😎

What was the one skill you had to learn when starting out on your own that you never thought about learning before?



#entrepreneurship #startup #learnings

Daniela Hauser

Many service providers claim to reduce operational costs by X%. 😳 


As a business owner or decision-maker, you hire experts to improve or automate your processes.

But how can you measure their success? 🤔 

Here's a straightforward method to calculate operational costs and assess the impact of these improvements.

Before starting my business, I spent years analyzing and monitoring margins and costs in my day job. I even wrote my university thesis on cost allocation.

It might sound boring, but it's incredibly useful for what I do now.

So let's get started!

Improving and automating processes can reduce operational costs, but not automatically.

It depends on which process you improve and whether these costs are related to your products or services or if they're just overhead.

Operational costs (or OPEX) are tied to a business's core processes, usually the delivery of services or products.

Here’s how to calculate your operational costs:

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭 - 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀: Look at everything you spend money on to keep your business running. This includes rent, salaries, utilities, subscriptions, and any other expenses.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮 - 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: Gather information about all your expenses from your financial records, such as invoices, payroll, and bills.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯 - 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗩𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀:

⚡ 𝙁𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨: These are expenses that remain constant regardless of your business activity level, such as rent, salaries, and insurance.

⚡ 𝙑𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨: These costs fluctuate with your level of service delivery, such as hourly wages, contractor fees, travel expenses, and utility bills.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟰 - 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀: Add up all your fixed and variable costs to determine the total amount spent on running your business.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟱 - 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀: Find out which activities drive up your costs (like revisions, changes in requirements during the project, employee/freelancer churn, etc.). These are your key cost drivers and are important to monitor closely.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟲 - 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆: Look at how efficiently your business is using its resources. For example, check how much of your employee's time is spent on productive, billable work.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟳 - 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀: Compare your costs to industry standards or your own past expenses. This helps you see if you're spending too much in any area.

Only once you have all this data can you measure whether the business optimization project you hired someone for has reduced operational costs.

Without this data before the start of the project, there is no way of comparing the situation before and after the project.

So before you hire, get your data! 📉



#processimprovement #processautomation #kpi #businessanalysis

A process is not a one-time thing.

Processes should be iterated over time.

I've seen some organizations get lost when they say, "This is our process, and this is what we're going to stick with." 

And then it's seven months, eight months, or nine months later. 

They've made this huge investment, but it's not working. 
Why? No idea. 

They forgot to set up feedback loops. 
They haven't set up their reporting in their dashboard to be able to understand where the bottlenecks are. 
Or to see if the process isn't fully adopted across the board.

Some of my clients weren't interested in the whole feedback thing, and that's okay—it's their business. 

But I've consistently seen higher adoption rates for processes and new tools for the clients who did try to collect some feedback.

Here are a few things I do to get a feedback loop in place:

🔄 Dedicated Feedback Channel: I make sure there's a board, email address, or another place for team members to drop comments or improvement tips. I ask the client to assign someone to monitor and act on this feedback. Pro tip: Train that person well ahead of time.

🔄 Identify Key KPIs: I determine one or two key KPIs for each process. For example, in customer service, I track average response time and customer satisfaction scores. In project management, I might track the project completion rate and overdue tasks.

🔄 Regular Surveys: Surveys can gather user feedback periodically. While less objective than in-person meetings, they do provide real-time insights into process effectiveness.

🔄 Meetings to Discuss Progress: Hold regular meetings with key stakeholders and process users to discuss their experiences and perceptions. This direct interaction often uncovers issues not captured through other feedback mechanisms.

I think it's essential to iterate and improve continuously. 

It's not about being great in 30 days; it's about being a little bit better every 30 days. 

If we do that continually, we'll be great in 90 days.

What strategies do you use to create effective feedback loops in your client projects?

#processsimprovement #feedbackloop #continuousimprovement #remotebusiness #remotework

5 in a row for me this week 😳 🤭 



#remotework #remoteteam #bingo #wfh

In my work, I often create something from (almost) nothing.


My clients are excellent at what they do in their specific field but don't spend a lot of time on processes or technology.

They own high-growth businesses, yet their processes and technology didn't grow at the same pace.

So, when I start, there is not much to build on.

No clear, well-defined path on what they want, need, or where it should go.
I've had clients running 7-figure businesses from a spreadsheet.

I've had clients bring in millions of revenue without having proper project management or collaboration systems in place.

It can be hard to get started if there are no clear definitions.

So, how do you build something from almost nothing?

Start with reverse engineering.

Start with the end in mind—where does your client want to go? What's the ideal outcome?

Break down the ultimate goal into manageable milestones.

What does it take to reach the ideal outcome for your client from where they are now?

Show the client the forest where they see only trees.

Go beyond the current challenges and show how your solution impacts the entire business in the long run.

If you shift your mindset from execution and just fixing the client's current challenges to a much broader context and vision, you can suddenly create.


Visual: Lim Heng Swee/林行瑞/ilovedoodle @limhengswee

#processimprovement #processautomation #collaboration #remotework

I specialize in helping remote businesses become more efficient and productive, and I love what I do.

I've always wanted to create a customer-focused business and have learned so much from talking to remote business owners. 

Over the past couple of years, I've spoken to around 100 business owners about their challenges with remote work and collaboration.

Almost every business faced similar issues, regardless of their size.

I realized that many of these challenges came from habits we bring from traditional office settings to remote work. These habits don't always work well in a remote environment and can hold businesses back.

In my article, I dive into these "on-site habits" and offer practical solutions that you can start using right away.

If you've experienced similar challenges with remote work or want to improve the efficiency and team spirit of your remote team, this article is for you.

If you have any tips for remote businesses on any of the challenges, please share; I'd love to know 😊 

#remoteteams #remotework #processimprovement #habits #collaboration

Daniela Hauser on LinkedIn • 6 min read

How to Transform Traditional Work Habits to Succeed in Remote Work

Do you know the biggest loss for remote businesses with super-efficient processes?


Personal contact with co-workers.

When processes aren't optimized, things are chaotic, and new people need help finding information, there is always a reason to ping each other.

A new optimized system where everything is in one central place solves many of these challenges but also places more emphasis on the team members to solve their problems. 

That makes it harder for the team to let go of old habits since they want to keep that connection.

That's not necessarily a conscious process.

In office settings, much of the learning happens simply by being in an environment where you can overhear conversations and ask quick questions.

When working remotely, people look for other ways to connect.

One of my clients created digital "water cooler" spaces where people could chat about their weekend. 🏝️

Another had a Confluence space dedicated to dog lovers where the team could share their favorite dog pics. 🐶

Know that improvement always has two sides.

You win a lot with optimized processes and automations as an organization, but your team always loses something.

Anticipating and thinking about a solution will give you a headstart when it's time for the team to adopt the new processes or system. 

Your team will ultimately make your ambitious projects a reality, so you need them on board.

And a happy team is so much more fun to work with.

P.S. Have you seen any funny ways businesses connect in a remote team? 

#remotework #productivity #processimprovement #processautomation #collaboration

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