Success and business productivity go hand in hand. Managing a business means being on top of your tasks and getting the whole team to follow your lead. Productivity helps business owners boost their KPIs, leading to the brand’s overall success.
However, being efficient is often easier said than done. Marketers can encounter challenges along the way that can cause the team to get sidetracked. It doesn’t matter if you are a hardworking entrepreneur or a dedicated team leader – everyone gets creative blocks sometimes. Gallup reports that 85% of employees are often disengaged at work, resulting in $7 trillion lost to unproductivity.
Managers and owners should make it a point to check everyone’s efficiency rates every once in a while. In addition, Leaders must set clear KPIs in place and consider implementing automated solutions that can help them easily track performance. At the same time, employees must be made aware that they should reach these metrics at all times. Below, we will discuss a few tips on how to improve business productivity within the company.
Give Feedback
Sometimes, all your employees need is a little push to keep them going. Review their work and provide honest and motivational feedback to show them that you appreciate what they do. Utilizing the right tool to automate your processes can optimize the communication flow within the office, and ensure everyone is on the same page.
However, there is a fine line between giving constructive criticism and flat-out being harsh. You should be honest and transparent with your staff, but the evaluation should be motivating rather than discouraging.
Here are some tips to imparting positive feedback to your team:
- Provide an introduction by telling the person why you are giving the assessment and why you think it’s essential. Let the individual know the benefits and why you think it’s vital for you to talk about this.
- Offer your observations and be specific about the things you have noticed regarding their actions in the workplace.
- Give the staff enough time to respond and explain their side. Then, assure the team that it’s okay to give suggestions about what they think can improve the office.
- Come up with solutions and be specific with them. Clarify why you think these methods would work and how they should be applied.
Communication makes everything better, and you should always motivate your team to be open about their thoughts and suggestions.
Provide Ample Tools and Information
It takes a lot of time to look for resources, so make sure to provide the team with great tools and information. Always keep in mind that the possibility for human error becomes more extensive if the staff is not synchronized with what they are doing. To keep everything simple and accessible, provide your people with the following:
- Get a business productivity solution where everyone can sync and share important details about their tasks. Business productivity software such as Asana can help managers track their crew’s performance, while applications such as Slack, Zoom, SaaS BPM, or Skype can help improve overall team communication. Researching software solutions and choosing the right tools to use could be time-consuming, but the effort pays off with time.
- Provide online documents that everyone can easily access. Consider creating a Google Drive account for the company and allow everyone in the group to view it. The Gdrive can be used to store FAQs, customer tickets, project details, timelines, articles, graphics, and transactions.
Giving your team what they need can help save time and effort, making everyone contribute to the business productivity.
Organize a Collaborative Work Environment
Allow everybody to communicate by building a collaborative and creative work environment. Your staff needs something that will motivate them to keep on hustling, and having a conducive surrounding will help them achieve that.
Get your people’s opinion on what the office should look like. Be open to suggestions and consider implementing the ones you know would benefit everyone. Give them the chance to communicate by having an open-door policy and encourage the squad to share their ideas. Here are some things to enforce for a more beneficial environment:
- Get the right people for the job.
- Avoid micromanaging, as doing this can take so much of everyone’s time. Ask your employees to give their plan for the day, and then check-in before the end of the day ends so you’re aware of where they’re at work-wise.
- Listen and let the staff provide suggestions.
- Set attainable and realistic expectations.
- Hire a sufficient workforce.
- Use BPM software to automate your processes.
Train Your Leaders
Success begins with the leaders. Train the head of each department even before they start handling their teams. They should be skilled enough to ensure that the everyday operations run as smoothly as possible, as this helps eliminate errors that can contribute to unproductivity.
Here are some valuable tips that leaders can apply to have an efficient team and workplace:
- Set specific goals and be aware of your boundaries.
- Organize your tasks and follow the timeline. Allow enough time for delays, as these are inevitable. Track your tasks and progress through automated software.
- Learn to prioritize.
- Delegate tasks to the right people. Doing everything yourself is simply not possible.
- Encourage your team members to create their calendars and schedules. Then, check on them every week and allow everyone to sync.
- Remember to take a break every once in a while.
Your employees need support, and it is your role as a supervisor or manager to give them the help they need. Keep your communication lines open and address their work-related problems so they can manage their time better.
Set and Follow Deadlines
As we mentioned, delays are unavoidable. Some emergencies can cause a schedule to be pushed back, and as a leader, you should be open to this. However, it is vital to teach your staff that following the timeline equates to company success. If you notice some of your people struggling with their tasks, consider sitting down with them and having a one-on-one conversation. Listen and suggest ideas that you think can improve business productivity.
To start, set clear goals that the people can easily understand. Again, using an automated system can greatly help with assigning tasks, ensuring visibility, and keeping employees on the same page by having the big picture and understanding what their co-workers are currently doing. Then, provide them with everything that they need to finish the task. Next, let these individuals know that communication is supposed to be two-way and that they should let you know if a problem arises. Make sure that you motivate them and lead by example. Finally, share your tips and tricks with your team to increase the overall efficiency.
The clearer the instructions are, the better your employees can work on their designated tasks.
Wrapping Up
It’s normal to get lost in the hustle and bustle of everything that’s going on in the office. However, as a leader, it’s your job to step up and show the team that everything is doable with the right mindset. Apply these tips and see your efficiency rate go up! You can also share your productivity best practices with us, we would love to hear them!