How to increase the productivity at the workplace
Increasing the productivity of your office can ultimately change the outcome and improve the quality of the service and product. Small or big companies must always strive to reach maximum productiveness, in order to increase their profit and earn respectful name with their customers and business partners.
Increasing the productivity of a whole office can be broken into a few small steps to follow:
» Create a daily goal board. Creating a daily goal board after each morning meeting will help the organization of the daily tasks. The goal board should be visible for all, and to display the summarized briefing. This will lower the chances of mistakes and will work for the motivation of your team. How will it work on the motivation? Since they will have it black on white, no one will be lost and everyone will know what is the daily strategy. Use your imagination and make the goal board organized, informational, colorful so every part of it can be distinguished and encourage the employees to mark as done the completed tasks. Scratching the tasks off will make the relieved its over and will motivate them to show their skill for the completing of the daily goals. The truth is many companies are saying to their personnel “No, you have a long way to go” or “We are far from done”, which is not motivating at all. Employees feel lost in their tasks, since they do not see the end of their daily duties, and instead of working harder, they lower their productivity. Information about the work process must be visible for those who participate in it. Just give it a try and results will be immediate.
» Break long-term tasks into smaller chunks. Dividing the long-term tasks of the project in different days will increase the productivity of the task handlers. How come? When the work is divided in different days, the employees can better plan it and execute it. They will have time to think it trough or even come up with a better idea for faster execution.
» Plan the hardest tasks for the morning. Scheduling the harder tasks for the morning, when the employees are at their best is vital. This way, none will be too tired from the long day already and there will be no room for procrastination due to inability or burnout. Thus, when delegating the tasks, make your strategy in such a way that the employees will not feel too tired or preoccupied with their work. After all efficiency requires both strength and motivation. This small change of the work schedule will improve the productivity big time.
» Hire outsourced employees or interns. When there is work overload, hiring part-time workers can prove very useful for the overall productivity. Delegating some of the tasks to an outsourced employee or an intern will relieve the tension of the staff and more work will be done in a shorter period. Not to mention the productivity will increase, but the costs will reduce.
» Use time tracking. Using a time tracking software with screenshots and activity levels will help in proper delegating and monitoring both staffs. Time management is essential for the increase of productivity since it will aid the organizational habits of the team. Using time tracking app will also regularly inform you on the status of the workflow and give you the opportunity to improve it.
» Use drafts and templates for repeatable tasks. There is even no need to mention that creating drafts and templates for certain documentations or regularly occurring tasks will save a lot of time, therefore employees can focus on the more pressing matters.
» Encourage communication. Communication as we always say is vital. A better communication system and tools like the goal board will also aid the productivity because employees will be able to more easily share information and exchange ideas. Most important is that the management should always be part of the communication circle and to encourage the employees to share their thoughts and suggestions for the development of the project, the techniques and the workflow.
» Allow short breaks. Avoiding burnouts is crucial for the overall performance of your team. Most companies think that all the working hours need to be utilized, and some of them even forbid their employees to have a rest when struggling. The thing is if the employee is struggling their productivity goes downwards and the quality of the output is lower. Lower quality and productivity make the workflow unstable and this leads to even greater problems. The employees are what makes the business flourish.
» Install vending machine and coffee machine. Purchasing and installing vending and/or coffee machine will also prove worthy. The team will not lose too much time to go search for a fast snack or coffee, no one will be starving and everybody can focus on their work when they know the “survival supplies” are available at any time. After all, it is really frustrating to be hungry or sleepy, but not to have time to go search for nourishing stuff.
Honestly speaking, these are just small matter most managers neglect these days. Taking better care of the staff and making a proper organization of the daily goals will greatly increase the productivity of your team.
Author Julie D.Posted on Categories Business management, Productivity, Time management & Time Tracking