Working harder doesn’t always translate into getting more things done. Intangible factors such as the systems we work in, our environment and the tools we use all affect our ability to be productive.
Finding ways to enhance these three areas makes efficiency easier to foster in your workplace. Try these six things to encourage productivity at work!
1. Get Clear On Which Metrics Are Important To Your Business
Part of being efficient is tracking your efforts. But if you don’t know which measurables are most important to your success, tracking is often a waste of time. Your top leaders need to sit down and identify factors that directly impact your bottom line. If you’re running a factory, some examples would be unloading times, time spent looking for inventory and other metrics that speak to worker efficiency.
2. Find Tasks That You Can Automate
Even automating small tasks can help you save time and money. Analyzing your processes and looking for things you can automate is a necessary step you need to take. If you’re able to automate tasks such as sending out quotes, assigning tasks and purchasing, your staff can save a lot of time. There are plenty of automation tools that help you save time in your human resources, accounts payable and accounts receivable departments.
3. Identify Bottlenecks In Your Current Systems
Anything that causes work to be done slower than usual qualifies as a bottleneck. Bottlenecks are a common issue in work environments where multiple departments rely on each other to get their work done. If one department is late or makes a mistake, it affects the other department’s ability to work. This causes unnecessary delays and dips in efficiency.
Some examples of common bottlenecks include lengthy approval processes, too many projects going on at once and communication by email that just turns into a black hole. Take time to analyze where your employees are spending most of their time and see what changes you can make.
4. Go Out Of Your Way To Create A Comfortable Work Environment
People perform better when they’re comfortable. Comfort in the workplace includes both physical and mental aspects. Keeping a clean workspace is essential to prevent people from feeling trapped or like the walls are falling in. Doing small things like allowing your employees to set their own schedules relives a lot of mental pressure about going into work.
At the end of the day, your company just needs quality work from your team. It doesn’t really matter how it gets done as long as its legal and ethical. Giving your employees more freedom makes it easier for them to internalize their responsibility for their job.
5. Invest In Field Service Management Software
As mentioned earlier, tracking your progress is an excellent way to keep an eye on your productivity. Field service management software is a tool that will help you manage personnel, track requests and manage your inventory. With this software, you can do all types of things such as dispatch and scheduling, reporting and tracking your fleet. Field service management software can increase the coordination between the worksite and main office.
6. Ban Multitasking
Multitasking just doesn’t work, no matter how much we want it to. We’d all be surprised how much we can get done if we just focus on one thing at a time. If you’re noticing a problem with efficiency in your company, encourage your staff to stop multitasking. They shouldn’t be writing documents while on the phone with clients. Devoting all your concentration to one task at a time always creates a better result.
