Increase productivity on all levels in any workplace to get the maximum results while keeping your employees happy and motivated. Here are some tips to enhance productivity within your office:
Meetings
Long meetings can leave employees feeling drained and a calendar full of meetings can become a barrier to productivity. Not only do meetings take away time, they decrease an employee’s concentration and make it harder to jump back into regular work responsibilities. While meetings are important and can’t be eliminated completely, managers should consider the following:
- Are ONLY the key employees attending?
- Can I keep the length 30-45min or do I need two different meetings?
- Does the meeting have an agenda and have I given it to everyone attending?
- Does each plan of action from the meeting have actionable items for follow up?
Cut stress
Looming deadlines and balancing work-life conflicts can lead to a lack of sleep, low fitness levels and a drastic decline in engagement and productivity. Cutting down on workplace stress increases productivity. One of the best solutions is regular communication with managers and checking-in with employees. In regular communication you can determine if there’s anything causing stress in the workplace or a personal issue that could be impacting work. The more you know about what’s causing stress in your employees’ work and personal lives, the better you’ll be able to help them and allow them to be more engaged and productive.
Share productivity hacks
Sharing knowledge about workplace hacks will make your employees’ lives easier, and should be a key part of your learning and development strategy. Holding voluntary learning sessions where employees can share tips and new tools can help organize their time efficiently, prioritize tasks, and deal with stress.
Give feedback
It can be easy for employees to feel their manager doesn’t have the time to give them advice, which can decrease productivity. If employees are left in the dark about their performance, they’ll simply move on to the next task and continue making the same mistakes. Giving guidance and feedback is important in the workplace and sacrificing development in favor of other responsibilities can be a mistake most managers make.
Recognize achievements
Positive feedback is just as important as feedback on mistakes made in the workplace. While it seems simple, recognizing achievement may have a deeper impact than managers might expect. Employees receiving recognition work harder and try to achieve more once they’ve been recognized. It might be helpful to set aside time during each meeting to recognize one or two employees for their achievements or for taking the time to help other employees.