If you’re responsible for overseeing employees, productivity is always at the front of your mind. Even if things are going well, they can always be going better. If you have real problems pertaining to productivity, this changes the game significantly. If all of your employees are lacking in productivity, this usually means that the problem is not with the employees themselves. You’ll need to examine the situation and see what you can change to make the workplace run smoothly.
Improve Your Organization
Productivity can often be a result of disorganization. If it’s hard to track what’s already been done, what’s being done, and what will need to be done later, you have no way of determining how much progress you’ve made. Furthermore, your employees probably can’t tell what they’re supposed to be doing. Use better organizational methods, like project management apps or thorough spreadsheets, in order to keep everyone on track. If everyone can see and read what’s supposed to be going on, they’ll find themselves on the same page.
Give Them a Better Office
If your office is cluttered and uncomfortable, productivity is definitely going to suffer. If six people are waiting in line for their turn to use a half broken copier that’s awkwardly jammed into a corner between two rows of cubicles, movement and speed will bottleneck. Get a larger office space if things are feeling crowded. People need space for both movement and concentration. Without that space, they won’t be able to work their best. If your office is the right size, it never hurts to decorate it nicely and spring for better office furniture to improve their overall level of comfort. People focus better when they can relax.
Offer Them Special Perks
Perks motivate people and boost morale. If your office is a fun place to work and everyone feels recognized and appreciated for what they do, they’ll become self starters. Give them yummy snacks, start an employee wellness program, and hand out small gifts for outstanding performance. You’re making engagement enjoyable and keeping your employees satisfied in their relationship with you. They’ll work harder when they know that you’re noticing.
Upgrade Their Equipment and Resources
Old computers, outdated software, a stale training program, and a lack of easy troubleshooting methods will make your employees’ jobs a lot harder. They can’t help it – they can only work as fast or as effectively as their equipment and resources will let them. They might even begin to feel neglected by their higher ups if they aren’t given the things that they need. Make sure you’re making it easy for them to do their jobs. It might cost a lot to make these upgrades, but you’ll make up for it with increased productivity.
Keep Them From Feeling Burned Out
Burnout is a major productivity killer. Stress gets high, your employees miss their families and their comfortable chairs at the beach, and they feel like they have nothing to show for their efforts. Burned out employees are mentally checked out, whether or not they’re sitting at their desks. Make sure your employees are getting some semblance of work-life balance. Celebrate successes with a big catered lunch and an easy day in between large projects, rather than ushering them from one task to another. Let them know you appreciate them by promoting ambitious employees, empowering the ones you can’t promote, and thanking everyone for their roles in helping their team win.
If you’re providing an ideal environment for productivity and you still have some stragglers, talk to them about what they need in order to be productive. You never know if you have great talent that’s going to waste because a brilliant mind just needs some extra help.
By Rachel Jackson, a Senior Content Manager at Bizset.com – an online resource of relevant business information.
A guest post for Borderless Executive Search
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