There are only a limited number of hours in your day that you have dedicated to working. So, it would be very problematic if in those limited hours, productivity is not at its peak.
When we talk about productivity in the workplace, we are generally talking about the efficiency of the employees and managers in the daily operations of the business.
There are generally two ways that you can increase productivity in the workplace; you can either make your employees put in more hours or simply, work smarter.
Increasing productivity in the workplace will most definitely benefit your business in daily activities and benefit your business in the long run, in terms of efficiency and increased growth.
Here are some effective strategies and methods that you could apply within your workplace in order to increase productivity levels.
Definitely Delegate
Delegating in the workplace refers to assigning responsibility or authority to a different individual to carry out specific tasks that need to be completed. The person who delegates work to individuals or groups is responsible for the outcome of the work.
Many managers, however, do not prefer to delegate. This may be because they do not trust employees enough to have them individually take on whole projects or they often feel it may be quicker doing it themselves rather than spending time handing work over.
Sometimes, this tends to waste not only yours but the whole company’s time.
Thus, when you hand over responsibilities to another capable employee, this will save everyone’s time and increase efficiency levels of the business. Not only this but the colleagues that you have delegated responsibilities to will gain important leadership skills and experience that will benefit them as well as the company.
Hire a Virtual Assistant
A Virtual Assistant is someone who provides professional, administrative or creative assistance to a business. They are mostly remote assistants and work flexibly around your business.
Hiring a VA can increase the productivity levels of your work in various ways. First of all, a VA can assist by taking care of all your business’s online work. For instance, they can track and record all emails that arrive in your mailbox throughout the day and highlight the important ones so that there is no time wasted sifting through emails you don’t need to see. Moreover, they can book appointments and meetings that need to be done over email or arranged by phone.
Thus, hiring a VA can increase productivity levels that are otherwise reduced when undertaking online work. For a full list of our support services please click here
Hold Stand Meetings
Although the best way to increase productivity is to avoid meetings in general (unless a very important topic must be discussed), if a meeting has to be set then it is better to hold one that is typically just as the name goes; everyone remains standing. It has been proven through research that stand-up meetings lead to quicker talk-throughs and improved group performance.
Set Smaller Goals
Sometimes, when we look at the overall goals of our business, things tend to feel overwhelming. Of course, even thinking about handling such a big task is extremely stressful.
Due to this reason, if your workplace sets smaller goals in place of one big goal, then it may seem less hectic and individual goals will be completed on time.
This will also help to keep track of the day to day projects and tasks that are assigned to individual employees or different departments of the business.
Reduce Any and All Distractions
In times long before today, the only distractions in the workplace would be getting caught up in talking to a colleague whilst making a coffee. However, nowadays, there are distractions present everywhere.
The biggest distraction of all is social media. Think about setting specific times for checking social media sites and log out of the app when you’re finished. This will avoid disruption whilst trying to stay focused.
Stop Multitasking
Many people think that multitasking increases productivity levels however the opposite may be true. It has been proven that attempting to complete many tasks at once can result in time wastage and lower productivity. So, if you or your employees are multitasking it is better to stop that and instead, divide tasks between various colleagues.
Take Breaks
Constant breaks in the workplace do in fact help in increasing productivity levels. This is because after employees have moved around for a bit, talked to other colleagues, and, taken their minds off work, they will come back feeling motivated to finish working which will save time and increase productivity.
Set Self-Imposed Deadlines
By setting a deadline that is earlier than the actual deadline, your mind will be tricked into working faster to meet the self-set deadline. The same goes for your employees as well.
So, when everyone finishes projects and tasks before the deadline, productivity will increase and a lot of time will be saved.
Give Feedback
When you give feedback to your employees you are letting them know of the positive and negative factors that have occurred in their work. This will, in turn, produce better results for the next project or task.
Moreover, by providing feedback employees gain an increase in motivation levels which leads to more efficient work being done.
Try the “Two-Minute Rule”
According to entrepreneur Steve Olenski, when you find and complete tasks that take two minutes or less, your time is actually saved in the long run. Another aspect of this rule is that any project or task can be completed in under two minutes, so just start now!
