7 Ways To Increase Productivity In Your Office Or Business

Think of your employees like the engine to your car. The more efficient they work, the smoother the engine runs. And when the engine is running at its peak, your business can really grow.

That means that productivity has to always be the goal. And finding ways to be more efficient is always needed. Small efforts over time will lead to some dramatic results in your bottom line and also worker happiness.

Here are some ideas on things you can do to increase productivity and still keep your office happy.

1 – Outsource

When work starts to pile up, it is tempting to dump it on everybody’s plate. This almost always ends up being the opposite of productive.

You’ll burn out your employees and their morale will plummet.

Instead, look to send out work to freelancers or use some software to stay productive. You can use employee time tracking software to make payroll much easier and is less that an office manager would have to do.

There is also accounting and bookkeeping that a freelancer can do rather than have a team do this.

A virtual assistant can be used when work starts to pile up rather than having others pick up the slack. They can do things like schedule appointments, send emails and do some organizing of files and other small jobs.

2 – Use productivity software

There are so many small things that happen throughout the day that slow down your employees. Having the right software can take some of those little distractions away and keep them at the job at hand.

Spam filters for email is one way to reduce the time employees spend on silly, time wasting tasks. It may only save a few minutes to reduce their spam, but with so many similar tasks that build up throughout the day, it adds up to way too much time spent not working on things that matter.

You can also organize your staff very efficiently with things like Trello and Slack to avoid too many repetitive messages and memos.

3 – Limit meetings

Don’t get me wrong, meetings are very important. Yet, there are many times when a meeting is called that could have simply been an email.

If you are using apps like Slack, then you can quickly and efficiently send out a pithy message that doesn’t require having a meeting to discuss.

Meetings take time out of the day that could be better spent by the employees. And not only that, it can kill morale when a meeting causes them to have to hustle to finish a project.

4 – Keep employees happy

A happy employee is a productive employee. And keeping them happy is one of the most cost-effective ways to maintain or even increase productivity.

By instituting the right office culture, you can get the most out of your workers.

Things like work/life balance being addressed or allowing for flexible schedules are great ways to keep people productive.

5 – Allow telecommuting

Workers that don’t have to spend over an hour commuting each way can use that time to do more work. If you let workers work from home a day or two a week it dramatically increases productivity.

You may think that they need to be supervised to ensure the work gets done, but many people actually work better when they are alone. There are fewer distractions when they have their home office set up efficiently.

6 – Set realistic goals

If every project comes down to the wire and requires people to have to put in long hours to complete, then this is a sign that your goals are not realistic.

It definitely happens once in a while, but it can’t be every time. Make sure that the goals you set are actually achievable. This doesn’t mean aiming low, but just understand how much work your team is actually able to handle.

7 – Reward your staff’s hard work

This reward could simply be a pat on the back and a public acknowledgement of appreciation.

Positive reinforcement goes a long way as people like to know that their hard work is noticed and appreciated.

You can also set up rewards for goals met that will also help them feel appreciated. A Friday off when a job is done well will go a long way to keep employees productive. Small gifts also work as do some other perks like a special parking spot or a long lunch.

from Feedster https://www.feedster.com/business/7-ways-to-increase-productivity-in-your-office-or-business/