Top 8 Ways To Increase Productivity In The Workplace

Every business owner wants their business to run as productively and efficiently as possible. Increased productivity means a greater output for the same amount of input. This will increase revenue and help your business grow and become successful. A more efficiently-run working environment will also provide you with more time to focus on other core areas of your business, such as customer care and market research. With this in mind, here are the top 8 ways to increase productivity in the workplace.

1. Match tasks to skills

Knowing your employees’ skills is essential for maximizing productivity and efficiency in the workplace. People have different skills and strengths, so make sure you consider this and match the right person to the job. For example, a creative and sociable individual may be great at pitching new ideas and presentations to clients, but may not be as successfully if they are given a restrictive, detail-oriented task to complete. Getting to know your employees and selecting the right person for the job, will save you time in the long-run and help you achieve better results within your business.

2. Embrace new technology

Fortunately, there is now a huge range of new technology designed to increase productivity in the workplace. For instance, if your employees are still using timesheets to log their working hours, then you can easily save time by switching to automated time tracking. This also eliminates the risk of time theft, which could save your business thousands of dollars every year. There is also a number of modern technologies that have been developed to make daily work tasks easier. For example, Enovate Medical have been implementing integrated EHR solutions across healthcare settings to reduce the work pressure on medical professionals, increase workflow, and enhance patient care. Make sure you find the best technology solutions for your business.

3. Allow remote working

Remote working has a number of great benefits – it encourages collaboration, boosts employee satisfaction and morale, and increases productivity. According to business experts at TINYpulse – “Employees of organizations that invest in remote work technology rate themselves 16% more productive. They also report 23% higher job satisfaction, when compared to employees of organizations who have not invested in remote work technology.” Allowing employees to work remotely, reduces the pressure of having to complete all necessary work tasks by the end of the work day. Employees have more autonomy over their workload, and this has been shown to increase productivity and improve employee morale.

4. Update network security

Network security breaches can have a detrimental effect on productivity within the workplace. In modern society, most businesses store a range of sensitive information online, and rely heavily on their IT infrastructure to carry out their daily operations. A virus or cyber attack could result in extended periods of downtime, where employees are left unable to work. This will obviously have a negative effect on both productivity and revenue. While there is no way to guarantee complete protection from cyber security threats, here are some simple ways to improve your network security:

• Carry out software updates and maintenance on your network.
• Educate employees on cyber security threats and make them aware of the risks associated with things like, opening an unsecure email attachment or leaving computers unlocked.
• Keep your Wi-Fi router in a secure location with restricted access, such as a locked cabinet. Only allow access to your employees and choose a secure password.

5. Improve communication

Miscommunication can result in significant wasted time and money within businesses. To improve communication within the workplace, make sure that work tasks and responsibilities are communicated to employees clearly, and with enough detail to reduce the likelihood of any misunderstanding. Technology, like group messaging and chat, can also be used to improve communication efficiency and encourage collaboration between the team. This technology allows instant communication, and minimizes the need for employees to be emailing back and forth, thus reducing the chance of staff missing important messages.

6. Offer regular training

Business owners should offer regular training, development, and mentoring opportunities to staff. Employees who receive insufficient training, will spend much of their work day attempting to learn how to perform their job role, which means they will work less efficiently. On the other hand, well trained employees will know what tools they have available to assist them, and will have better skills to carry out their work tasks more efficiently. Demonstrating that you are taking an interest in your employees’ development, is also likely to make staff more motivated and help boost morale within the workplace. You should also keep in mind that health and safety training is extremely important in all industries. Educating employees on the potential hazards in the workplace and safe practices, will reduce the risk of accidents and injuries occurring. This in turn, will help improve productivity in the workplace.

7. Manage performance

It is important to monitor the performance of staff, so you can identify productivity levels and areas of weakness. You should provide employees with regular feedback through appraisal systems. Make sure that all employees are provided with clearly defined, measurable, and realistic goals to work towards. For employees to be productive, they need to know what is expected of them and what they are aiming to achieve over a specified period of time. There are a number of great tools available online to measure employee performance. This includes – key performance indicators dashboard. You can check out this article for some of the top employee management tools used by organizations.

8. Offer incentives

Incentives, rewards, and workplace competitions are all great ways to motivate staff. Consider offering things like vouchers or time off, for anyone who hits a weekly sales target. Incentivizing your staff gives them a reason to increase efficiency. While recognizing your employees when they do a good job, will make them feel appreciated and encourage them to continue increasing their productivity.

Follow these 8 tips, and see the effect they can have on productivity within your business!