Small Business Productivity
As an employer, your primary focus is keeping your business afloat by maintaining staff productivity, which increases company efficiency and customer satisfaction. However, productivity can quickly decline if repetitive tasks make workers uninterested and tired, causing them to lose momentum. If improving productivity in the workplace or remotely is becoming necessary, you'll need to implement the right strategies to help your business succeed.
The U.S. annual productivity average dropped 1.3% in 2022, a dip the nation hasn't seen since 1974. If you're also noticing a decline in your company in recent years, we know how to reverse it. We'll break down how to keep employees engaged so they'll no longer miss deadlines, make paperwork mistakes, or cause revenue loss.
Set Regular Goals
When assigning tasks to employees, task and deadline ambiguity can cause discrepancies in the workflow. Therefore, set regular goals, such as "finish part A of the project by Monday at 6 PM" rather than "get as much as you can done by the end of the week." That way, workers understand their jobs and can plan their time to meet their goals.
Being specific also gives employees a competitive edge since they must work against the clock to achieve something. For instance, when playing a video game, if gamers must beat a level in a given amount of time, the countdown acts as another challenge. A work deadline does the same, increasing productivity levels but ensuring realistic goals don't overwhelm workers.
Set Up a Reward System
The above goals promote more intrinsic motivation since they encourage individuals to meet office goals for their own personal satisfaction. However, if work goals aren't enough to motivate some employees, try improving productivity in the workplace with more physical rewards. From raises and promotions to more vacation days and office parties, these aid in extrinsic motivation.
Reduce Procrastination
Since you can't keep an eye on all employers at all times, especially those who work remotely, it's difficult to tell if phones, television, or social media are distracting them. However, even some things you do as an employer contribute to procrastination since anything that pulls employees away from a task at hand is a distraction.
Limit meetings to about once a week, and don't prolong them if you find a solution to your issues quickly. That allows employees to return to work faster, so there's less time wasted on unnecessary activities.
You can also reduce interruptions in a work environment by:
- Using more efficient real-time tools like Slack, which is faster than sending multiple emails
- Setting time aside for lunches and happy hours so personal conversations among colleagues happen within that time rather than during work hours
- Encouraging an organized workstation and online work files and folders
Strive for Peak Efficiency Today!
To improve employee workflow, it's up to the business leaders to create engagement with the right motivation and project management techniques.
Additional Information
RingCentral: 10 Productivity Tips for Small Businesses
Forbes: Five Tips For Maximizing Productivity As A Small-Business ...
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By Denis Wilson
Thanks for reading this post. I always take into mind that your time and attention are precious. And these posts need to be timely, to the point, and short. For more tips on thriving with small business technology, check out the other blog posts at DWPIA Blogs. You can also find me on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.
I am also a published author and speaker on cloud computing, work-from-anywhere, and cybersecurity. I work extensively with business and professional associations to provide small business technology education programs.
Contact me if you have any questions about the subject. I'd be happy to spend 15 minutes discussing it with you.
