It goes without saying – a happy workplace is a productive workplace. Employees who are motivated to work hard are the ones who will keep your company afloat. No matter how many years you’ve been in business, there is always room for growth and improvement. To keep everyone on the same page and striving for success, here are some simple tactics you can implement into the workplace, which will also boost productivity levels.
Delegate Responsibly
When working on projects and tasks, you need to assign roles responsibly. Should you give an employee a task that’s above their capabilities, you can’t expect good results in the long run. Each member of the team will have different strengths and weaknesses, so it’s your duty to master the art of delegation.
Encourage Regular Breaks
If you have a client deadline looming, it’s normal for the workplace to feel tense and under pressure. However, for your employees to stay productive with their workload, they must take regular breaks as a chance to unwind and take their mind off things. If your team stays behind a screen for hours on end, this can do more harm than good for their emotional wellbeing. High stress levels can hinder productivity, so make sure your team are taking regular pauses to stretch their legs and clear their heads.
Hold Regular Meetings
All businesses should understand the importance of holding regular meetings. Whether you’re launching a new product onto the market, establishing project roles and responsibilities, or welcoming a new member of the team, sitting down with your team as a group and individually is key to boosting productivity in the workplace. Meetings are the best way to address any worries or concerns, as well as ensuring everyone leaves the conference room feeling satisfied and ready to get stuck in.
Provide Room for Progression
There will be some members of your team who strive for bigger and better things. If your team is at the bottom of the career ladder, having opportunities to progress through the ranks will keep them motivated and give them goals to aim for. Should you keep your employees in their current fields with no chance to progress, they’ll simply find another business that respects and values their talent.
Keep track of how much time you spend on things and set time limits for yourself
You could believe you’re very adept at estimating how much time you spend on certain chores. However, according to certain studies, only about 17% of people can accurately predict the passage of time. Rescue Time, for example, can assist you by revealing how much time you spend on daily tasks such as social media, email, word processing, and apps.
Ask for Feedback
Any successful business owner will tell you how important feedback is. Whether it’s from customers or employees, you need to receive honest opinions about your business. Employee engagement surveys are a great way for boosting productivity amongst your team. While it can be difficult to read negative feedback, you need to take it on board and reassess how you run your business. Making effective changes will not only boost productivity but reduce staff turnover too.
Even if your business runs seamlessly at present, that’s not to say a problem can’t arise in the future, such as employees losing motivation. It’s your job to inspire your team and show you value their hard work in order to keep your company thriving. Any of the above tips are sure-fire ways to boost productivity in the workplace.
Set your own deadlines
While we normally associate stress with being negative, a controlled level of self-imposed stress can actually be beneficial in terms of helping us focus and achieve our objectives. Give yourself a deadline for open-ended jobs or projects, and then stick to it. When you’re watching the time, you might be amazed at how focused and effective you can be.
Quit multitasking
While we often consider multitasking to be a key skill for enhancing productivity, the contrary may be true.
Attempting to complete multiple activities at once, according to psychologists, might result in lost time and productivity. Instead, make it a practice to dedicate yourself to a single endeavor before moving on to the next.
Be proactive rather than reactive
Allowing incoming phone calls and emails to define how you spend your day will result in you doing an excellent job of putting out fires—but that may be all you get done. Peter Daisyme, a friend and business partner from the free hosting startup Hostt, says, “Set out time to answer to emails, but don’t let them dictate how you spend the rest of your day. Make a strategy for each day at the outset of the day, and then try your best to stick to it.”
