Business Productivity

How To Improve Your Business Productivity

A successful business requires thorough planning, hard work, and talented personnel at the very least but all of these attributes will only go so far. If you want to take your business to the next level and see profit gains beyond expectation then you will need to work on your workplace productivity and efficiency. This will allow you to get the most out of your talented personnel, see your hard work pay off, and enact your plans as profitably as possible. Improving productivity has never been more important, in light of the shift to remote working and personnel being spread out across towns, cities, and even countries. What is more, the onus on managers to ensure productivity is more challenging than ever. So if you are looking for ways in which you can help improve your business productivity, then read on. 

Keep it simple

First and foremost you want to create a focused but incredibly simple plan. A plan that contains a clear outcome with clear and concise steps to get there. Break your outcomes and goals down into smaller goals, all of which serve the purpose of achieving your overall goal This will help map out clear defines roles and responsibilities for everyone and ensure they know exactly what they are doing.

Use technology 

Technology can often seem like a hindering block for productivity as it can be all too tempting to get lost scrolling through your smartphone or procrastinate on websites that aren’t relevant to the task at hand. However, there is technology available with the sole purpose of improving your productivity. There are productivity apps such as Asana and Slack, which can help organise, track and manage workflows for businesses and companies. These tools are particularly useful who companies who are operating remotely as it allows all the relevant data and information to be kept in one place. 

Virtual to-do lists, reminders and smart calendars are another fruitful way that technology can have your back when it comes to productivity. Allow these applications to take on the load and save your brainpower. What is more, these tools can often be integrated with the aforementioned productivity apps, allowing everything to be stored in one place. 

Outsource

Outsourcing can be a great way to save on time and improve efficiency. Not every company will have the ability to effectively run and cover every aspect a business needs to thrive. Look to identify areas where your business is struggling or efficiency and productivity are lacking. If these problems cannot be rectified in-house then consider whether you could outsource the area altogether. With the expansion of remote working you have the opportunity to outsource services to anywhere in the world, it could be you look to outsource IT services in one city, your accounts department to another and virtual assistance services to another country. The possibilities are endless. While you may be reluctant to relinquish control on certain aspects of your business doing so can be the most liberating and beneficial decision you make. Handing over the regions to professionals will not only free up valuable time and effort it will give you the peace of mind the work is being carried out at the correct standard. 

Team motivation 

Every business, manager and employee will struggle with motivation from time to time, it is to be expected. However, the challenge comes when motivation is consistently low for prolonged periods. To help combat this it is crucial to have a clear understanding of what is most important to each person that you work with. A good motivator will be able to tap into the personal motivations of team members to ensure they remain focused and motivated to perform their best abilities. Of course, you can offer rewards and incentives and these do go a long way, but don’t forget to overlook the smaller gestures, such as appreciation and praise. These two can make a huge difference to the motivation of your staff. 

Avoid multi-tasking 

While multi-tasking is often viewed as a skill set to be desired the reality is it can do more harm than good. It is becoming more widely accepted that by focusing on one thing at a time your productivity and efficiency will increase exponentially. Not only this the quality of your work will improve also. A way to promote the avoidance of multi-tasking is to set realistic expectations and workflows so that employees do not feel the need to undertake multiple tasks at once.