For good reason, managers and business owners frequently wonder how to improve employee productivity. Companies that can double the number of "engaged employees" generate 147 percent more revenue than their competitors, according to Gallup. Similarly, Forbes reported that engaged employees are 27 percent more likely to receive "excellent" performance ratings.
Exactly what steps may be taken to improve productivity in the workplace? Over the years of running Dignity Marketing and my SEO agency, I've learned a few things about increasing team productivity. Continue reading to learn six of my best tips.
1. Provide your employees with the necessary tools.
This is an obvious choice. Your employees will not function as efficiently if they are not provided with the appropriate productivity tools.
Your employees' tools fall into three broad categories:
Tools for collaboration and productivity
Communication aids
Time management applications
Collaboration and productivity technologies enable your staff to collaborate effectively, whether they are in the same location or not. They have the potential to enhance collaboration and speed up the completion of tasks. This category covers task management applications, Trello, and Asana, as well as collaborative content creation platforms.
Communication tools enable your team to communicate with one another, clients, and external stakeholders. Email, WhatsApp, and Slack are common examples.
Finally, time tracking tools enable you and your staff to keep track of the amount of time spent on each activity. This will reveal which staff could be more efficient and which may have too much on their plates. One example of a time tracking tool is Zoom Shift. Gantt charts can also be used to track project progress and timescales, ensuring that everything is on track.
2. Get Rid of the Motivators
Motivation and productivity are inextricably linked. The rationale is straightforward: enthusiastic workers are more productive. As a result, if you want your staff to be as productive as possible, you must motivate them while also eliminating "motivation killers."
First, you must identify the motivation killers in your organisation. The following are examples of the most typical offenders:
Employees that are negative and drive everyone down
Overwork or a lack of support can cause stress.
a scarcity of prospects for professional advancement
Boredom
Not feeling appreciated
Once you've identified the issues, you may begin taking efforts to address them. Can you get to the core of what's bothering someone and give support if they're being very negative and bringing their colleagues down? Can you ensure that you correctly recognise and reward good performance?
3. Avoid micromanagement.
The desire to micromanage can be powerful. After all, no one knows your company or your goals better than you do! The catch is that micromanaging has a detrimental impact on productivity. It worries them out and gives them the impression that you don't trust them. Micromanagement has the ability to slow things down as well — it's difficult for your employees to be efficient if you have to double-check everything they do.
Naturally, you should keep an eye on ongoing tasks and be available to help out when your team needs you. To put it another way, you must strike a balance between being a hands-on manager and sitting back and trusting your people.
If you are prone to micromanagement, try the following solutions:
Hire people you have faith in their abilities, judgement, and professionalism.
Provide clear and simple directions.
Plan regular check-ins.
Allow yourself to be imperfect. Sometimes "good enough" is sufficient.
Also, ask your employees how they want to be managed. People want varying degrees of supervision in their profession.
4. Make the Most of Meetings
We've all experienced the two-hour meeting that should have been a two-minute email. Meetings that are unnecessary consume more time in the job than almost anything else. As a result, simply reducing meetings can greatly enhance productivity.
When holding meetings, make an agenda and stick to it. Respecting everyone's time by sticking to the agenda and beginning and concluding on time can significantly save wasted time. Make sure to provide time for discussion and questions so that everyone has an opportunity to speak up.
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