A major goal of running a business is to be successful. While success hinges on many factors, productivity stands out as one of the most important. Enhancing the productivity of your employees is essential. However, you’ll more than likely run into issues that can quickly hamper the motivation of your employees. When this happens, productivity suffers. So, what do you do? One of the first things that need to be done is identifying the factors that harm productivity. Next, you will need to take action. Here are 6 tips on how to increase productivity in the workplace.
Remove the Things that Destroy Motivation
Identifying the issues that are dragging down the motivation of your employees is an essential step toward improving productivity. But how, exactly, do you do this? Not all motivation killers are easily identifiable. You will need to carefully observe the workplace to see where motivation is being negatively impacted. There are several different types of motivation killers, including a lack of organizational vision, little or no opportunities for employees, toxic people, and feeling unappreciated. The types of motivation killers that you come across will determine the approach(es) you need to take to fix the problem and get your employees back on the right track.
Use Rewards for Motivation
Productivity relies heavily on motivation. When your employees lack motivation, they tend to become bored. This often results from performing monotonous tasks. What's more, unmotivated individuals lack the desire to complete more complex tasks? In the face of unmotivated employees, productivity plummets.
So, what do you do? One way to get your employees motivated is through gamification. Turn tasks (completing rewards, meeting certain goals, contributing ideas) into a game of sorts. Gamification uses things like rewards, points, challenges, and more to turn more monotonous tasks into something more fun and exciting, which can go a long way in getting your employees involved and motivated. There are even apps, like Game Effective, to aid in the process. With gamification, you add an element of play into the workplace, which can be especially effective for motivating employees to reach sales or customer service goals. The rewards you choose to offer are up to you. You might choose to offer gift cards, a monetary incentive, or even something as extravagant as an incentive trip. The possibilities are practically limitless.
Set Clear Goals, Provide Feedback
Sometimes, not knowing what is going on can actually be hindering motivation. In most cases, employees tend to feel more motivated when they know what the goals are and what is expected of them. By clearly stating the goals of your business, you provide essential guidance for everyone. A company vision can be exceptionally helpful and gives your employees that little extra push. It can also be helpful to set short-term goals, which can help your employees to manage their time to get tasks done. It’s not enough to just set goals, however. It is also important to provide feedback and let your employees know how they are doing. Accomplishments that your employees achieve should be acknowledged. Errors should be addressed promptly. Both of these factors will aid in maintaining, and even enhancing, productivity.
Communicate Effectively and Efficiently
Communication is a key component of any business. No system of communication means that you may quickly find it difficult to function. However, communication is not just about using the phone, speaking with someone face to face, or writing an email. A communication system that outlines a hierarchy, which lets employees know where they can go when they need a question answered, is important.
There are all kinds of tools that help to enhance communication. Online conferencing software like UberConference can be a major asset. UberConference is an online conference app that enables you to set up, schedule, and attend meetings from anywhere. Functions like screen sharing and document sharing enable everyone to stay on the same page, no matter where you are.
It may not always be an easy task to maintain (and enhance) productivity, but it can be done. Just remember that your employees need motivation, management needs to be involved, and technology can be a great asset. With the right steps, you can keep, and increase, the motivation and productivity of your employees, which then enables you to reach the goals your business has set forth.
Take Advantage of Technology
Everywhere you look, there is technology. New developments are being made all of the time, making lives easier and improving the way that things are done. Ignoring technological developments can actually be quite harmful to your business. There are a number of different types of technologies that are specifically designed to improve workplace productivity, and it’s not just having computers and internet access.
Collaboration tools like Asana are making it easier to improve productivity, even when your employees aren’t all in the same location. You might have employees in a different state or even a different country. Or, you may have employees who work from home. Many of these collaboration tools enable your employees to communicate, collaborate, and access documents from any internet connected device, including smartphones. However, even though these tools enable your employees to work from anywhere, it is important that technology doesn’t get overused. Doing so could be just as detrimental as ignoring the use of technology. Too much technology can interfere with the work life-personal life balance.
Set Standards and Provide Skills Development
Every business should have standards. It is important that your employees know what is expected of them. Without expectations and standards, it becomes easy for employees to find excuses for when things go wrong. It is important that you clearly outline what is expected of your employees as well as how you expect them to perform their duties. It is also important to challenge your employees. After all, if they become stuck in the same place for too long, with no sight of ever advancing in their careers, motivation suffers. Make it clear to them that there are places for them go, and higher positions to seek. Providing them with the assistance they need to achieve those higher positions can really go a long way.
