You do not need to completely overhaul your workplace just to get people to be more productive. Making small yet substantial changes can introduce better working habits that stick. Here are a few effective adjustments you can make to stimulate productivity and efficiency in your organization:
Use the best tools
Choosing the right software and tools will streamline your team’s workflow and make work infinitely easier to do. Time and productivity tracking apps will help keep everyone accountable for how productively they are using their time, while communication and online collaboration tools can encourage communication and cooperation. Business coaching apps can also help business owners and leaders successfully leverage their talent to continue growing their business, reach their goals, and lead their team.
Encourage self-care
Stress can hamper employee growth and efficiency. A stressed and unhappy employee will show signs of physical, mental, and emotional fatigue that will manifest itself in declining productivity and poor results. It is important to both prevent burnout before it happens or gets even worse. It is not enough to tell employees to value sleep and a healthy work-life balance; there needs to be opportunities for employees to practice self-care. This includes things like work from home incentives, offering constructive feedback, establishing attainable goals, and listening to your employee’s concerns.
Delegate tasks
Delegating tasks to employees shows that you trust your team’s abilities and talents. It may be risky, but you will find that it saves a ton of time that can be dedicated towards more urgent matters, as well as help avoid feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. Giving your team more responsibility could improve employee morale and overall job fulfillment. This is also an opportunity for everyone to gain worthwhile skills and experience which will benefit both the team and the business in the long run.
Practice positive reinforcement
Motivated employees work harder and smarter. Encouraging, motivating, and rewarding employees for a job well done is crucial to boosting productivity. Let your team know when they are doing a good job and offer constructive criticism when needed. Offering incentives for smart, quality work is also a good way to improve performance. It is helpful to highlight and recognize certain employees or sub-teams that go above and beyond their work to inspire others and motivate them to work harder.
Communicate clearly
Frequent meetings will not mean much if you are merely rehashing past admonishments and failures. A productive meeting is one where both leaders and employees can demonstrate their commitment to moving forward by finding worthwhile solutions to any issues the business has. It is important to communicate with your team a clearly-defined set of goals and a detailed plan of action to push things forward.
Overworking employees, not recognising their positive contributions, and creating an overall hostile or negative work culture and environment is the downfall of every workplace. Ultimately, trusting your team and empowering them to do better is truly the best way to get results you can be proud of. A happy team is a productive and efficient team.
