Simple Strategies to Increase Business Productivity

Productivity levels will have a direct impact on your profits. The more productive your business is, the more you will get out of your investment. Fortunately, there are endless ways to boost productivity and make your operations more streamlined and efficient. Smart business owners should continuously assess their productivity and look for opportunities to make their activities more profitable. Here are some simple strategies to increase business productivity and improve your bottom line.

Assess productivity in your company

Your first task should be to assess productivity in your company. This will allow you to identify weaknesses and implement strategies to improve efficiency and boost productivity. There are several ways that you can measure productivity in the workplace. Here are some simple ways to track and assess productivity in your company:

• Monitor sales and profitability. If sales and profits increase, this is a good indication that productivity has increased and vice versa.
• Employee feedback. Ask your employees to provide feedback on each other’s performance in the workplace. This can give you a clear overview of each employee’s productivity in terms of how efficiently they perform their work duties.
• Time tracking software. Time tracking and project management software has been designed to help you monitor productivity in the workplace. Utilize these tools to check how your team is performing.
• Jobs completed. Tracking how many tasks are completed each day can give you an accurate representation of productivity levels within your company. You can also assess how long it takes to finish specific tasks.
• Compare labor costs to goods produced. Subtracting labor costs from goods produced can give you a good indication of how efficiently your employees are working.
• Customer satisfaction. The data obtained from customer feedback surveys can provide a good overview of the productivity of your employees. You can also use this information to enhance your customer support and increase sales and profits.

Allow employees to work from home

Many employers feel anxious about the idea of letting their staff work from home. This may be because they fear that their employees will become distracted or less motivated to work without supervision. These concerns are warranted, but many studies have found that working from home can increase productivity levels and improve employee satisfaction. One study found that remote workers are 13% more productive than their office counterparts. Allowing your employees to work from home can also reduce your business overheads by cutting the amount that you need to spend on office space, utilities, and so on. There are loads of ways to ensure that your employees can work productively from home. For example, make sure that you invest in cloud-based technology like remotely hosted desktop services.

A hosted desktop allows you to run operating systems, applications, software, and other functions remotely. If you are planning on trialing remote working in your company, then you must provide your staff with all of the tools and equipment they need to complete their work activities from home efficiently.

Invest in productivity-boosting technology

There is a huge variety of technology and apps that have been developed to boost productivity in businesses. This includes a wide range of software designed to enhance communication, improve collaboration, and make business tasks more streamlined and efficient. For example, Google’s cloud-based computer services allow teams to access shared drives and edit documents from anywhere with an internet connection. This makes it easier and more convenient for departments to work on team projects together. Managers can also use time-tracking tools like ClickTime to monitor progress and time, which gives a clear indication of employees’ productivity.

Make sure that employees are happy

Creating a happy workforce will play a key role in maintaining high productivity levels in your company. A recent study on productivity within call centers found that employees worked harder and made 13% more sales calls when they were happy at work. Typically, happy employers work at a higher level and achieve better results when compared to unhappy colleagues. Happy employees are also more likely to show loyalty to your company and are less likely to be seeking new employment opportunities. Staff turnover can have a serious impact on productivity, as you and other employers will need to invest time in hiring and training new staff. Retaining your employees is one of the most effective ways to maximize productivity in your business. You can boost employee happiness by creating a supportive working environment, offering flexible work schedules, and providing regular training and development opportunities. You should also take steps to improve workplace conditions for your employees. For example, turn the heating up during colder months to maintain a comfortable temperature in the workplace.

Reduce distractions in the workplace

Most workplaces are full of potential distractions that can harm productivity. Social media is one of the biggest causes of lost productivity in the workplace. A new report by TeamLead World found that the average employee spends just over 2.5 hours using social media at work each day. Tackling social media use in the workplace can be a challenge, and a social media or phone ban is unlikely to bring the desired results. A better approach is to encourage your employees to keep their mobile phones switched off during working hours and kept out of sight. Make sure that you set a good example by keeping your phone locked away while working. Allow your employees to have regular breaks when they can check their social media and respond to messages. This will help to ensure that the time spent working at their desk is more productive.

Conclusion

Productivity is extremely important as it will have a direct impact on your profits and bottom line. Minor changes can bring about big results and massively improve productivity rates in your company. This will allow you to increase revenue and maximize your return on investment. Try implementing some of the strategies discussed above and see the effects that these changes can have on your company’s productivity.