According to PORDATA, using Eurostat data, productivity per hour worked in Portugal stood at 66.9 in 2025, on a scale where the EU27 average equals 100. At the same time, people in Portugal worked an average of 39.7 hours a week, the 5th highest figure in the European Union, against an EU average of 37 hours. We work more and produce less for each hour.
This is not only a national problem. It is something I see inside businesses every week. Busy teams, exhausted owners and, at the end of the month, results that do not reflect the effort. In most cases the cause is not a lack of commitment. It is a lack of measurement: the business measures what is easy, such as hours and attendance, rather than what matters, which is results.
What the figures tell us about how we work
A few more data points help complete the picture. PORDATA shows that in 2024 labour productivity in Portugal was 47.7 thousand euros per worker, the 19th lowest in the EU. By comparison, Ireland recorded 194.4 thousand euros and Bulgaria 26 thousand. On weekly hours, the Netherlands came in at 31.5, Denmark at 33.6 and Germany at 34.8.
There is encouraging news too: between 2020 and 2024, GDP per capita grew by 40% in nominal terms and 10% in real terms, the 6th highest growth in the EU. So progress is happening. The question for each business is whether that progress is happening inside it, and how it would know.
As an engineer, I learned a simple rule: a system that is not measured cannot be improved consistently. In a business, that applies as much to a sales team as to a machine.
Hours are not results
The most common mistake is confusing activity with productivity. Picture a team of 6 people at an accountancy practice. Everyone arrives early, leaves late and answers emails at the weekend. The owner feels the team works hard, and it does. But ask how many files each person closed per week, how long a month end close takes on average or what share of the work had to be redone, and nobody can answer.
Without those numbers, only two levers are visible: ask for more hours or hire more people. Both raise costs. Neither guarantees more output. And given how hard recruitment is right now, the second is not always available.
How to choose the right indicators
A good team indicator has four characteristics:
- It measures an outcome, not effort: orders dispatched, proposals sent, tickets resolved, rather than hours logged.
- It is within the team's control: a person should feel they can move the number through their own work.
- It is easy to collect: if it takes two hours of spreadsheet work each week, it will stop being collected.
- It has a target and a baseline: a number with no reference point does not tell you whether the week went well.
For each role, I recommend no more than three indicators. One for volume (how much was done), one for quality (how much was done right first time) and one for time (how long it took). Any more than three and the team loses sight of what matters most.
Examples by area
- Sales: proposals sent, conversion rate, average sale value.
- Production or operations: units produced per hour, rework percentage, on time delivery.
- Customer service: requests resolved on first contact, average response time, complaints per 100 requests.
- Admin and finance: average debtor days, invoices issued the same day, days to close the month.
The routine that turns numbers into improvement
Measuring without reviewing is just bureaucracy. What makes the difference is routine. At ActionCOACH we call it accountability: everyone knows what they committed to, the number is visible and there is a fixed moment to look at it together.
A simple routine that works in most SMEs:
- Team scoreboard: a sheet or a screen showing each area's indicators, updated by the person who owns each number.
- Weekly 20 minute meeting: same day and time every week, standing if possible. Each owner states the number, the target and what they will do next week.
- Quarterly review: every 90 days, decide which indicators stay, which targets rise and which processes need to change.
In the weekly meeting, the rule is to talk about numbers and actions, not blame. When an indicator misses, the question is "what did the system allow to happen?" rather than "who got it wrong?". That is what separates a team that improves from a team that gets defensive.
The owner's role
I often see owners who want an autonomous team yet remain the only person who knows how the business is doing. Sharing the numbers with the whole team is the fastest way to build ownership. Nobody feels responsible for a result they cannot see.
It is also the first step towards a commercial, profitable business that works without you. If the numbers are visible and the routine is in place, the business does not need the owner in the room to know whether the week went well.
One action for this week
Pick one area of the business and agree three indicators with that team: one for volume, one for quality and one for time. Record this week's value as the baseline and book a 20 minute meeting for next week, same day and time, to compare. You do not need new software. A sheet on the wall is enough to start.
If you would like help designing the indicators and accountability routine for your team, the ActionCOACH Porto team would be glad to talk. It is one of the first pieces of work we do in 1:1 Coaching and in the Clarity and Alignment Workshop.