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How to Improve Productivity in Your Workplace

Productivity is one of the most important ingredients in an efficiently run business. However, achieving this isn’t always easy.

While some teams in your workforce may consistently maintain high levels of motivation, others might struggle to access the same level of focus. Fortunately, like many professional skills, productivity is something your team can cultivate.

Even as workplace dynamics shift and teams evolve, the following productivity strategies should ensure that your employees can accomplish their goals. 

1. Encourage Teams to Prioritise One Task at a Time

Employees can often feel like they’re constantly jumping between different tasks, trying to keep on top of an ever-increasing task list.

When your to-do list seems to be expanding, it’s tempting to try and tackle multiple tasks at once.

Unfortunately, studies show multitasking harms productivity, making it harder to give complete attention to any given task. This can increase the risk of employees making mistakes.

Encourage your team to organise their schedules by focusing on one task at a time. This can allow team members to check off each task as they complete it, building motivation and creating a sense of accomplishment.

2. Allow Teams to Design Their Schedules

You may find it’s helpful to provide your teams with more autonomy over how they organise their day. Provided the most important tasks are completed on time, you can allow your employees to arrange their to-do lists in the format that makes the most sense for them.

Some team members will find it easier to tackle the most challenging tasks first. Overcoming a challenge early on in the day can also create motivation to push staff through the rest of the day.

Other employees will prefer to start their day with less complex tasks and work up to the bigger challenges when they feel more focused. In a world of diverse employees, allowing everyone to choose their strategy can lead to better outcomes. 

3. Train Staff to Solve Problems

When team members feel empowered to solve problems independently, they spend less time waiting for approval and guidance from others.

Giving your employees training on how to fix common technical issues or overcome problems they might be facing could help boost their efficiency levels.

A strong set of training opportunities can also lead to huge benefits for your team. One study from the Huffington Post found companies offering comprehensive training achieved 24% higher profit margins

4. Make Time for Breaks

While it’s tempting to assume more time spent on tasks means higher productivity levels, the brain can only focus for so long. We all need breaks to refresh our minds, so recommend your team members schedule breaks in their day.

The Pomodoro Technique can be an excellent strategy, which involves working for 25 minutes and taking a break at the end of each working period.

Companies can also encourage their team members to segment their days, with small breaks after each segment, so they can get ready to focus on a new task.

Breaks aren’t just good for productivity; they’re crucial to ensuring employee wellbeing. Breaks can help reduce stress and ensure employees find opportunities to move and have time away from screens. 

5. Provide the Right Equipment

Providing the right resources and equipment to staff members wherever they may be working is crucial to ensuring high productivity levels.

Think about the essential systems your employees use every day. What kind of hardware, networking tools, and infrastructure will they need to remain productive? Are there any specialist software tools necessary to help your teams achieve their goals?

Providing the right training, so your employees know how to use all of the tools correctly, should ensure your staff can leverage resources as effectively as possible.

6. Ensure Teams Know How to Build a Productive Environment

Finally, as the workplace continues to evolve, it’s important that team members know how to create an environment suitable for productivity, wherever they are. 

According to Forbes, around 70% of the workforce could be working remotely by 2025, which means your team members may need to learn how to create the perfect workspace at home.

Guide your employees to minimise distractions by turning off notifications on smartphones when they need to focus. You can also offer advice on choosing the right room to work from when operating remotely.

For in-office employees, getting feedback on how to make the business space more conducive to productivity may also be helpful. Ask your teams whether they’d prefer a more open office environment or more private rooms for focus work.

Finally…

As a leader or manager, your workforce is your most valuable asset, so ensuring you’re facilitating them in reaching their full potential is of prime importance. There’s no quick fix to improving the productivity of your team; this is something that needs to be constantly maintained and monitored. Hopefully, these tips help!

Before investing in improving your employees’ productivity, the most important stage is ensuring you’re recruiting the right individuals. 

If you’re interested in recruiting the best new diverse talent with a progressive and modern social enterprise, contact AAI today at team@aai-employability.org.uk or see what we can do for your business this year by clicking here.

Keep in touch with an evolving working world by subscribing –> https://www.aai-employability.org.uk/aai-in-touch/

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