Business productivity is tied to the growth and development of a business. This is why many business owners put several measures and rules in place to boost workplace productivity, thereby increasing output.
However, sometimes, these measures fail to live up to their expectations. The result? Low productivity yields disorganization, a decline in business, and employee conflict.
Have sleepless nights as a result of low workplace productivity? These strategies can help.
1. Keep Things Simple
Yes, it is crucial you have a productivity strategy in place. But it doesn’t have to be as complicated as writing in a foreign language. Instead, strive for simplicity.
Creating a clear, simple plan with lucid goals helps employers stay on task and prepares them for success. Outline your business goals with specific, achievable tasks so your employers know what to do and when.
2. Set Reminders
Technology has made it possible to set reminders without using sticky notes. There are a lot of time management and tracking software and apps like Todist that can help track tasks meant for certain days and times, so your brain doesn’t have to.
Plus, you can merge this software or apps with collaboration tools that let you schedule your time by channels, topics, and teams. Set major milestone alerts and notifications at the team level and have employees set their own tasks using the same channel for more simple items.
3. Review Goals Regularly
It is one thing to set goals and another to ensure that they are achieved. One of the best ways to ensure that those business goals you set are achieved is by reviewing and revising them regularly.
After establishing achievable goals, ensure everyone on your team has a way to monitor progress daily. If they can’t do that due to the situation, set realistic expectations, such as sending weekly progress reports or responding within 48 hours.
4. Leverage Productivity Apps
Technology can cause a lot of distraction in the workplace, thereby decreasing productivity. However, when utilized, appropriate tech can play a key role in boosting business productivity.
There are productivity apps for different purposes, including time tracking, time management, calendar, scheduling, etc. Common productivity apps are:
- Asana
- Evernote
- Todoist
- Dropbox
- Slack
To ensure that you use the right productivity tool, brainstorm on where your business is lacking in terms of its productivity and leverage the right tool to fill the gap.
5. Outsource Tasks
Rather than stretch your employees thin by burdening them with lots of workloads, why don’t you outsource specific tasks to professionals? By outsourcing tasks to professionals, your employees have enough time and bandwidth to focus on the core of your business.
You can choose to outsource your IT tasks to IT support companies, or your accounting tasks to accounting outsourcing companies, etc. Other tasks to consider outsourcing are:
- Marketing
- Sales
- Administrative tasks
- Manufacturing
- Customer service
- Shipping and Logistics
6. Don’t Multitask
In theory, multitasking looks like an amazing productivity hack. But in reality, it’s not— it doesn’t even come close!
It is better to start and complete one task at a time than work on different tasks simultaneously. In fact, many studies have indicated that multitasking can negatively affect (and not boost as many people assume) individual productivity by 40%.
To prevent multitasking in the workplace, don’t overtask team members. Instead, ensure they all have the same workload. Assign tasks to individuals who are best in handling them or willing to take them rather than by role or title. Setting achievable goals also reduces the need to perform numerous tasks simultaneously or invest little effort.
7. Reduce Meetings
While meetings are important to track business progress, deliberate on important matters, and ensure everyone is on the same page, having excessive meetings can drain employees and dwindle workplace productivity.
Rather than set numerous mind-draining meetings that affect productivity, consider minimizing them. You can also collaborate using productivity tools.
You should consider meeting with your team members or employees once a week is ok (unless an emergency arises). The shorter, the better.
8. Delegate Tasks
Delegation is a solid way to boost workplace productivity. But, sadly, only a few business owners buy into this strategy.
And why is that so? It all boils down to fear.
Employers, managers, etc., fear that people may ruin a task. There is also the fear of the job not being executed as expected. ‘
While delegating tasks to employers can be scary, if done right, it can help boost workplace productivity. You can try and see where it gets you. You’d be amazed at the results you’ll achieve.
Conclusion
While the above tips are designed to boost workplace productivity, you may not need to implement them all. It’s up to you to determine what’s decreasing your business productivity and apply the appropriate strategy to fix it.
