7 tips to increase productivity in the workplace

Table of Contents

• Provide comfortable workplaces for employees
• Provide the necessary equipment
• Set clear work goals
• Take regular breaks
• Provide Training
• Avoid multitasking
• Arrange regular reviews
• Final thoughts

It’s no secret that the key to successfully growing a business lies in its people. By focusing on each team member’s development and maintaining a friendly work environment, you increase employee satisfaction and overall team productivity that keeps them interested in every project.  

Improved productivity in the workplace has many benefits: increasing profitability, optimizing resources, improving customer service, creating products on time that builds customer’s trust in a brand.

If you wonder how to increase productivity in the workplace, here are the next steps:

Provide comfortable workplaces for employees

Any kind of work is much easier to perform if it takes place in comfortable conditions. Make sure to provide a pleasant workspace for your employees so nothing could distract them from being focused on tasks. 

You might not realize how important lighting, temperature, and noise conditions can be until you feel the impact on employees’ overall performance. It’s hard to concentrate on what’s important if an office or co-working doesn’t have air conditioning to maintain a comfortable temperature. Don’t let the team spend time looking for a way to cool down the air when it’s hot or warm up when it’s freezing. Set up the optimum working temperature, which is between 68 and 70 degrees °F (20-21 °C)

Ensure there is access to fresh air and natural lighting coming from windows. It’s always nice to have the opportunity to stay outside to freshen up and sort out thoughts. 

Remember to also check noise conditions. Everyone knows how difficult it is to focus on work projects if you are constantly distracted by extraneous noise around you. 

Employees that are happy with their surroundings are more likely to be highly productive and achieve the best results.

Provide the necessary equipment

What can be done without tools that help to move forward? In any type of business, the tools with which products are created play a huge role. Providing your team with the right equipment is key to building a successful routine. 

Out-of-date technologies eat up a lot of an employee’s day. There’s nothing more frustrating than looking at the preloader every time you try to open a new website or application because you haven’t got faster WI-FI. People can’t stay productive if every try to make an effort will be blocked by poorly operating tech systems. The best way to streamline your business is to be on a first-name basis with IT resources. 

Don’t let the technologies stop the progress; make them work for business needs. Invest in high-quality equipment and the result won’t be long in coming. 

Set clear work goals

Setting measurable and attainable goals and tasks play a big part not only in employee performance but also in the overall success of a company.  

Employee goal-setting is a key responsibility for any manager. After all, it depends on how quickly and efficiently the project will be completed. If team members know their individual role and overall contribution to the company’s development, they’re often more focused and motivated to accomplish goals. 

The process of goal-setting might be hard for those employees who have less work experience in this. If you see them having issues setting realistically achievable goals, consider using a SMART framework to help. Ensure their targets are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.

Consistently communicating strategic business goals and having regular reviews of progress keep employees engaged in the work process and emphasizes their impact.

Take regular breaks 

High workload, deadlines, urgent requests from a boss or a client – these are only part of the excuses employees make to avoid breaks.  If it sounds familiar to you, then it’s a sure-fire sign to slow down and press pause.  And here are the reasons why:

• Breaks help you to find a better solution

The best solution comes to us when we least expect it. The idea might appear when we’re daydreaming at night or taking shower in the morning. Next time you have a difficult issue, try letting your brain wander and seek its own solution, instead of forcing yourself to find the answer. 

• Get a bigger picture

When you’re too much into details of a complex task, it’s so easy to lose sight of a bigger, more strategic picture. Just loosen up, step back and revise your goals. Make sure to dedicate time to the right tasks and projects.  

• Avoid burnouts

If you’re constantly working under a lot of pressure, have multiple deadlines, and don’t have time to take any breaks, you’ll most likely get sick of your job pretty soon.  Regular breaks help you to restore energy and mental resources so you could always be productive. 

As a manager, it is very important to ensure employees take regular breaks and stay efficient.

Provide Training

Training is a crucial part of business development and success. All employees need to have regular upgrades to stay up-to-date with trends, learn how to use new technologies, and reach a higher level of productivity.

Advanced training programs allow employees to expand their knowledge base, develop new skills and grow bigger. Providing team members with the opportunities to learn something new or improve what they already have makes direct contribution to their future. It’s well-known that a motivated workforce is the most productive, efficient and loyal. The more a company puts in by way of training and development, the more breakthrough results will be achieved.

It’s essential to understand that training allows you to find the best candidates for new roles among your team. Better to promote from within than seeking weeks and months for someone external. Why not give a chance for existing employees to build the same skills and knowledge?

Avoid multitasking

Many companies are seeking candidates who can perform many things at a time. Is it truly effective?

Usually, multitasking is considered a skill helping employees to reach goals quickly. The point is, when you do several tasks together, your mind is hardly focused on any of them. This inability to concentrate can impact your professional life but also has implications on personal experiences and relationships.

Lack of focus can lead to multiple mistakes during work on projects since your mind is divided between different things at once. When you try to complete small tasks while also aiming to finish a bigger goal, you’ll soon realize it actually eats up more of your time rather than saving it. And it can cause a company a lot of money and time wasted. The mind needs some time to reset before each task.

A company needs to keep track of employee’s activities to lead them in the right direction, help them focus on one task at a time to stay productive. 

Arrange regular reviews

Leading a company, being in charge of many different people, projects and tasks is not a piece of cake. Modern technologies can help to keep track of some details, but nothing is better than a weekly review with your teammates. On face to face meetings, it’s easier to catch the mood of the team, cheer them up and motivate for further achievements.

Weekly updates let employees share their current progress, get feedback from a manager, find an answer for difficult questions and ensure they’re moving right path. It’s also a great opportunity to bring you closer as a team. 

Through regular reviews, you can become a more efficient manager. You’re more likely to recognize when someone from your team is close to burnout, feeling overloaded with tasks. Here’s where you prevent such situations by offering help, have an open conversation, identifying bottlenecks and coming up with a solution together as a strong team. Smart managers are always ready to listen, hear, learn and grow as leaders. And great leader builds a stable and profitable business.

Final thoughts

There are many proven ways to increase productivity in the workspace. And it’s a must decide to implement each to get as many benefits for a company as possible. How can a high productivity level streamline every business? Starting with driving profits, reducing operational costs, improving customer service, and ending with an improved work environment.

Even though increasing productivity isn’t the easiest thing to deliver, the outcome you get is definitely worth it. Engaged and happy employees are a powerful boost for any kind of business.