When it comes to productivity and efficiency in business, it’s easy to spend too much time focused on processes and systems. And while there’s certainly a time and place for big picture processes, it typically comes down to individual execution on an employee by employee basis.
Prioritizing Productivity
Highly productive employees, combined with efficient processes and systems, can take a business from average to exceptional in a matter of months. Here’s how you can prioritize productivity within your team:
Dialogue With Your Employees
Communication is extremely important to the health and efficiency of your business. If you study companies with high-level productivity, you’ll find that they almost always have clear channels of communication between all levels. (In fact, they tend to have flatter organizational hierarchies. Though this isn’t absolutely necessary.)
If you want to spur your employees on to be productive in their respective roles, begin by opening up dialogue with them. Get to know your employees and what makes them tick. Not only does this give you a better idea of how to leverage them, but it also helps them see that you care. This, in turn, motivates them to work harder.
Use the Right Modes of Communication
How you communicate matters - particularly in a world where there’s so much noise. Traditionally, email has been the go-to option for sending directives and moving employees to action. But over the past few years, research has revealed that email is not the most efficient option.
On average, email takes up more than three and a half hours of an employee’s workday. And with dozens of non-job-related emails coming through each day, it’s easy for important messages to get buried.
A better option is SMS. Also known as text messaging, SMS can be used as a quick and effective form of internal communication. It has a high degree of immediacy and urgency, which isn’t the case with email. You can use SMS for things like notifications, company meeting reminders, and quick updates.
Outsource Certain Tasks
When you have open dialogue with your team, you learn which tasks are frustrating, time-consuming, and not integral to their daily workflow. And if the numbers add up, you can respond by outsourcing these tasks to someone outside of the organization.
Outsourcing is great for those recurring and repetitive tasks that anyone can handle. This includes things like data entry, customer service requests, developing reports, and other similar duties.
Incentivize Your Employees
Incentives can go a long way towards motivating an employee to be more efficient and productive. And rarely is money the best motivator. Instead, you should try things like:
- Take employees out for lunch if they meet certain morning deadlines and goals.
- Offer “Lazy Monday Coupons” to employees - allowing them to show up to the office an hour or two late on Monday morning.
- Offer “Half-Day Fridays” if your team is able to get a certain amount of work done Monday through Thursday.
- Simply recognize employees with verbal affirmation and let them know that you appreciate everything they’re doing.
Get creative and pick incentives that fit within your company’s culture. The goal is to get people excited about being productive.
Don’t Micromanage
As important as all of these tips and techniques are, it’s imperative that you don’t micromanage. If your employees feel like you’re constantly watching over their shoulder, they’re not going to perform as efficiently as they should.
One of the best ways to encourage productivity is to encourage autonomy. Make it to where individual employees have the ability to take ownership over their own time and resources.
As productivity expert Robby Slaughter says, “This is a wonderfully self-correcting process: We want people who are self-starters and are able to operate independently. Granting workers freedom over when, how, and where they work creates proof of their work ethic in a way that trying to control them cannot.”
It might sound counter-intuitive, but by managing less, you’ll typically find that you get better results. (Granted, you have to hire the right people and establish the appropriate foundation.)
Get the Most Out of Your Team
There’s always room for improvement. You can always squeeze out a few more ounces of productivity. So, as you evaluate where your team currently stands, consider looking for new ways to connect with your people on an individual basis. In doing so, you’ll establish trust and cultivate a culture where people are committed to putting the business first.