what is meant by being "efficient" and being "effective"?

being efficient - completing tasks using the least possible effort, time, resources

being effective - completing tasks well, so that you reach all of the targets you set out to reach with that task.

E.g. If you have to clean your room -

Doing it EFFECTIVELY is to have your room completely spotless, organised, floors hoovered and everything done.

Doing it EFFICIENTLY means doing it with least effort, i.e. hoovering the floor rather than picking bits up individually, getting it done quickly instead of wasting time on little unimportant things or using lots of effort where there was a much easier way.

You can be efficient without being effective -- i.e. if you do such a sloppy job that it's incomplete/ needs to be done again (eg you "clean" your room quickly but it's still messy)

You can be effective without being efficient -- i.e. if you do a job really really well, but waste lots of effort doing it when there was a quicker way (e.g. you clean your room til it's spotless, but you wasted hours scrubbing the mirror when you could have left a spray-on foam which would have cleaned it just as well)

I would see the difference between efficiency and effectiveness as being one is doing your own job well and the other is seeing that others get their jobs done well.

An efficient person does his job with minimum amount of wasted time, energy and resources.

An effective worker is usually in a position of power and he is more interested in getting the job finished without allowing emotion, money or time get in the way. The job has priority over any other issue. The only time I could personally justify such an attitude would be a parent getting a critically ill child to hospital when time was of the essence. But Hey! it takes all types to make the world go round.

Efficient is doing ones job in the most capable and dedicated way. It might be counting paper clips.

Effective is doing something to improve the operation of the whole organization - such as suggesting that paper clips don't really need to be counted.

efficient is to preform or function in the best possible manner with the least waste of time in effort whilst effective is actually getting the job done in the proper way.

Efficient refers to the performing of the task and effective is meeting the expected results.

efficient best described is:

performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort

effective is like it will start as of midnight:

actually in operation or in force; functioning