10 Ways to Increase Workplace Productivity
To help employers increase workplace productivity, we asked business leaders and HR experts this question for their best advice. From utilizing collaborative software to strategizing time management, there are several tips that may help you increase workplace productivity for your employees.
Here are ten ways to increase workplace productivity.
Type Faster With Text Prediction
Typing is a central task to many employees, from email to word processing to research. To increase productivity, a text prediction and grammar correcting software can save staff time and keep communications professional. Using AI-powered text prediction software can be used in a range of specialty companies that may use industry-specific terminology. Text prediction software also provides meaningful writing suggestions and grammar corrections for professional content areas. Such as law, academia, business and more to help bridge the gap between typing and thoughts.
Guy Katabi, Lightkey
Review Established Processes
Employees all work at their own pace. It can be really helpful to check in with them about any softwares or procedures that are in place. This is to help ensure that these processes or softwares are aiding in their productivity and daily tasks. Sometimes software becomes outdated or doesn't fit the needs of the tasks anymore. For us, as a dental clinic, our entire team needs to withstand multi-tasking. For example, taking phone calls daily, making telehealth visits, scheduling and other various tasks. It’s important to not assume that if things are going slowly it’s an employee problem. Rather, taking just a few minutes to survey how the operations are going can really help productivity over time.
Henry Babichenko, Eurodenture
Utilize Collaborative Software
Process and communication challenges are what keep teams from achieving the level of productivity they want to reach. Utilizing business software with built-in enterprise collaboration features allows your team to plan, schedule, and manage daily tasks and activities. The level of communication within the organization and with clients can be all-encompassing. With automated process scheduling, workplaces can create processes that will repeat continuously, and avoid losing valuable time.
Spiros Skolarikis, Comidor
Time Block Your Schedule
Time blocking can be a great way to become more productive and efficient with your time and projects. Particularly, if there’s a big project that needs to be done. Providing the time it will take to complete a task can help prioritize bigger projects before the deadline. That way, you’re not scrambling at the end to finish it. For example, put “[30]” in front of the task name in your task management software to note this should only take 30 minutes to complete. It can be a simple way of showing the amount of work you’re doing. This will allow you to view all your tasks and figure out how much you’re actually able to do within the work day.
McKenzie Nelson, Markitors
Set Clear Expectations
To make sure your employees have what they need to work productively, regardless of their work style and ways of getting things done, you should have an open line of communication and clear expectations. Be sure to have collaborative workspaces or conference rooms available to employees who work better in group settings. As well as quiet individual workspaces for those who find more productivity by themselves. Be available to respond to employees’ questions or concerns in a timely manner if they should arise. Setting clear deadlines is the best way to ensure that employees understand what is expected of them. Employees can then apply their own strategy for accomplishing their tasks with confidence. This helps create an open line of communication that you have established in the workplace.
Than Merrill, FortuneBuilders
Empower Your Team
The best way to ensure that everyone is productive is to give them tasks that they can complete without needing approval from anyone else. There are some things, of course, where it makes sense for multiple people to collaborate or for your manager's input. Those situations should be well documented and all employees should know who to go to if they cannot figure something out on their own. This way everyone is set up for success.
Hays Bailey, SHEQSY
Check-In Regularly
Once your employees are set up and moving, make sure to do check-ins. These can be daily, weekly, monthly, etc. depending on the size of the team. These check-ins can be a deep dive into projects on how long they took, what energy was placed where, and how to move projects along faster and more efficiently. This will be where you can find out what teams may need and how to help them along.
Derin Oyekan, Reel Paper
Strategize Time Management
Productivity levels are high in workplaces where the average employee is skilled at tracking and managing work hours. Time management training can help employees gain the right skills and show business and HR leaders what employees need to work more productively. For instance, during a training seminar on managing distractions, a leader can realize that a distraction management tool may be helpful to employees. And if, during the Q&A session, leaders realize that employees aren't able to account for time spent at work, it will become clear that acquiring a time-tracking software will make a world of difference, productivity-wise. The list of instances can go on and on. Finally, time management trainings can be very effective in helping attentive leaders ensure that employees have everything they need to boost their productivity levels.
Chioma Iwunze-Ibiam, Time Doctor
Know Personality Types
A great tip for productivity is to make sure employees are doing the work that best fits their work style. One way to do this is to have all of your employees take a personality test. This will better help you match your employees skills to tasks. And help reduce the number of problems that your employees run into. It’ll ensure that they have everything they need to work productively.
Jordan Nathan, Caraway
Describe Criteria for Success
More often managers and leaders want their employees to do things in a specific way. However, all employees have different styles, different thinking patterns, and different ways of approaching the work. I consider two key elements of making them productive, no matter the diversity of their styles and skills. Number one, paint the picture of how the ideal output you expect looks like, be as specific as possible. Number two, describe your criteria for how you will evaluate those outcomes. Once these two things are clear in employees' minds, they’ll be able to self-evaluate their outcomes using the criteria before they present the final outcome. This approach avoids confusion and conflicts and keeps all of the employees productive.
Dr. Raman K. Attri, Performance Scientist
At Texhelp, we're helping organizations around the world to work more efficiently with our productivity toolbar, Read&Write for Work. Learn how digital tools can help staff to work quicker, smarter and with more confidence.