Office Productivity: How You Can Make It Soar
If you own or run a business that operates out of an office it’s likely you might have stumbled upon a problem with productivity. Humans just aren’t meant to be sat down in front of desks all day. There are things you can do to increase machine performance while ensuring your people are remaining positive and productive. Ways you can cut through the confusion and lead your team to success. If it’s your own business it’s sometimes hard to remove yourself slightly from the lack of productivity to the point that you’re able to objectively look for the causes instead of resorting to disciplining your staff. Maybe these tips can help. If you don’t think they’ll work perhaps they can give you some new ideas to try out. They aren’t all inclusive, but you can make them work for you if you put your mind to it.
Think About The Equipment
Don’t focus on your workforces productivity if they haven’t got the tools for the job. This is a must. Focus on this first and then you can work on their productivity. It might be you’re asking them to do work that is better suited to a machine. You might want to use database compare instead, for example. Speak to them about what they’re using and whether they’re happy. You might need faster internet, there’s nothing worse than slow internet. You could need more powerful computers too. It’s not all about computing power. Are they comfortable in their chairs? You might have cheap, uncomfortable ones. Invest in comfortable equipment for them to use and you might see their output increase. Once you’ve ticked off any equipment issues you can move onto the next set of solutions.
Keep Things Fresh
There’s nothing worse than doing the same things all day, non stop. Make sure you vary their working day. Mix up their jobs. Flex work around your teams. When things are new it can be exciting. Something to learn more about and get your teeth into. Otherwise it can be pretty boring and productivity will drop off.
Get A Good Break Room
Don’t let people work through their breaks. It’s bad practice on your part for letting it happen. They should take time away from their desks for lunch or break. Doing this can clear the mind and give it a break before they come back. Some people are just workaholics, but others aren’t and will feel like they need to replicate the behaviour. Be hard on them and make them take a break. To that end, you need a good place for them to relax in. The breakroom should be designed by them, with needs in mind. Comfortable chairs, a place for them to eat at and a TV are all must haves. If you’re a benevolent boss you can provide things like bread for toast or fresh fruit. These little things help productivity as it properly pulls them out of the working environment before they have to go back to work.
Be Flexible
Everyone is doing it these days. If it is possible let them work from home at least one day a week. They’ll skip out on a day of commuting costs and be able to work in a really chilled out environment. You might see productivity shoot through the roof. It’s the same with the normal working day. Give them a ballpark hour from which you want them to come in. It could be from 7 till 8. Some will start at 7, others 8. They then adjust their working day accordingly. Doing this allows for additional flexibility and let’s them feel like they’re more in control, all will contribute to a better working environment meaning better productivity.
Reward Good Work
If you don’t reward good work, how can you expect people to strive for it? You can do this in a number of ways. Offering some kind of bonus is the most obvious, so long as you can afford it. But you can give people days off, or offer other kinds of gifts and incentives. You could also put a clear promotion chain in place, and promote those who do hard, good quality work. Being someone who rewards good work shows that you recognise it, and appreciate it. Just realise that this isn’t something which will happen all the time. You also need to be careful that you don’t reward substandard work. Once you start, you have to do the same for everyone so don’t have favourites if you can help it.