Employees waste hours each day on various non-productive activities. Increasing productivity can be a true challenge because it goes beyond what you do and extends to what your team is doing.
Productivity management is key when you want the whole workplace to do well. We are going to help you learn what improves productivity, so you can get more done at work.
Continue reading this article for the top tips for improving productivity.
1. Set Easy to Achieve & Measurable Goals
If no one knows what the goal is, it is difficult to keep people on track. Some people think there doesn’t need to be a goal and that people simply need to be working.
While people might still be doing the same work, when they have a goal to work toward, they will move with more purpose and get things done with great efficiency.
You should have a long-term goal that people keep working toward, but you also need to break it down into smaller goals and allow people to have wins on a regular basis.
2. Use Recognition
Recognition is one of the best ways to keep people on the path of productivity.
Recognition doesn’t mean that you have to put people on a stage or send out a memo about their great work. While these things are great ideas, even acknowledging their part in your company’s success at a weekly meeting can make all of the difference in the world about how focused and productive employees are.
3. Employ Helpful Tools
Using tools is a great way to increase your productivity. If you’re trying to do everything manually, you and your team are likely moving at a snail’s pace unnecessarily.
Whenever you do decide to use new tools, make sure you read all of the tutorials. If you use powerapps, look up a helpful powerapps tutorial and learn how to do things before employing this tool throughout the office.
Many times, we set ourselves back by failing to go through tutorials and trying to wing it.
4. Celebrate Positive Results
When your team hits goals, you shouldn’t just let this progress go unnoticed. Celebrating positive results ensures that the positive actions taken to get here are going to be repeated.
5. Focus on Quality
One of the mistakes many management professionals make is to push productivity but at the expense of quality. When productivity comes at the expense of quality, you’re actually going to reduce your productivity because you’ll have to go back and fix mistakes.
When you focus on quality, you’ll get things done the right the first time and won’t have to redo past work. Having to redo past work is bad for your employee’s morale, which is another productivity reducer.
6. Be Available to Give Support
Even if your workers are creative freethinkers, there are times when they need help and support on different parts of their work. If workers feel like they are stuck on their project but have no one to turn to, they might leave the project sitting for a while until creativity strikes them.
When you let people know ahead of time that you’re available to support them through the process, they are more likely to come to you for help and stay on track with what they are trying to achieve.
7. Build Trust Between Employees & Management
In business, trust has to go both ways. If management doesn’t trust employees, why would they expect the employees to trust them?
When you build trust in the relationship, both parties are going to look out for the other instead of feeling like they are pitted against each other.
Tension between employees and management makes it difficult to get things done.
8. Learn the Art of Delegation
To be truly productive, you have to get good at delegating. Your team won’t be able to do anything if you don’t let them.
Trying to control everything slows down productivity and makes your team feel like you don’t trust them to do anything important. Practicing delegation is the only way to learn how to delegate, and you can’t take back tasks just because they aren’t done exactly the way you would have done them.
9. Reduce Distractions
The more distractions your employees have, the less likely it is they are going to stay on task. You know how hard it is for you to stay off social media and on track, and making it harder for your employees to get on social media can be a major productivity booster.
Blocking certain sites on work computers can cut down on wasted time in the office.
While employees can still access social media on their phones, it does make it a little more difficult for them to access, which can be enough to keep them on track.
10. Improve Workplace Conditions
The better the workplace conditions are, the happier people are at work.
Make sure it isn’t too hot or too cold in the workplace. You might save a few bucks on heating and cooling, but if your employees are miserable, it’s not going to pay off.
You’re a Productivity Management Pro
Now you know the best productivity management practices, you can get your team on the right track. When you and your team are more productive, it may not be necessary to hire more people, and you’ll notice that you’re operating within your budget.
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