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How You Can Boost Productivity Within Your Small Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Productivity| How You Can Boost Productivity Within Your Small BusinessWhen you’re the owner of a small business, it can often seem like there just aren’t enough hours in the day. Unanswered emails, unfinished tasks, rising stress levels, and a to-do list as long as your arm are all fairly common, and can often leave you feeling overwhelmed. You can relax, though, because we’ve come up with five great ways to boost productivity in your small business.

Utilize Organizational Tools

To stay on top of daily, weekly, and even monthly tasks, the best thing to do is to utilize some of the great online tools available for businesses. Asana is a brilliant work management app that allows you to organize and plan your workflow more easily; tasks can be scheduled either for yourself or for other team members, and there’s also a great built-in messaging feature which can easily replace traditional emails. Microsoft Teams is fantastic for coordinating staff messages and arranging meetings, and also includes a handy conference call element.

Choose Business Coaching

There’s nothing more helpful when you’re struggling than receiving motivation and tips from someone with more experience and knowledge. INFIX are a team of consultants who provide small businesses with coaching packages on how to grow your company, via one-to-one online video sessions. Covering everything from strategy and goal-setting to growth and pricing, they’re a one-stop shop for anyone who has hit a stumbling block within their business.

Motivate Your Employees

One of the secrets to a successful small business is happy employees; it’s proven that motivated and upbeat staff provide better results, so it pays to take this into consideration. Setting reasonable working hours, providing fair pay and being supportive are all great ways to stay on top of staff morale – and remembering to give credit and encouragement is also key. Another great tip is to seriously consider flexible working requests; parents and guardians often require time off at short notice, and being understanding in these situations is beneficial.

Delegate Tasks

As the owner of a small business, it can often be tempting to try and manage all of the most important tasks yourself – but this is often a one way road to unfinished work and dissatisfied customers. Many employees will be keen to progress within the business, take on more hours or further their career, so increasing their workload can be beneficial to everyone concerned. Giving employees more autonomy and responsibility isn’t only helpful to you – it can also make them far more productive.

Pick the Right Foods

Eating the wrong foods at work can put you on a fast track to flat energy levels, sluggish thinking and low motivation, so ensure you fill your body with the good stuff throughout the day. If you’re super busy finding time for lunch can be tricky, so make sure what you do eat is packed with nutrients; avocados, quinoa and chia seeds are all superfoods which stick with you, and can easily be mixed into a quick and tasty salad. Keeping healthy snacks on hand is also a great tip (and one your staff will thank you for!); nuts and seeds, dried fruit and even the humble banana are all great for keeping hunger at bay throughout the day.

6 Strategies for Improving Employee Productivity

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The more productive your employees, the better for your business. But it can be hard to get employees to actually be productive. There are always a few gems who will go above and beyond, who complete their work early and wonderfully… but those are rare. Most employees won’t do more than what’s expected of them, because what’s the point? However, unproductive employees could do severe damage to your business’s reputation, since you may be behind on certain orders or have unsatisfied clients. While you are the boss and it’s your job to delegate, you need to know that your employees will do their work even if they aren’t being supervised 24/7. Keep reading to find out what you can do to improve employee productivity.

Training

Training will equip your employees with a lot of skills that can help them be more productive. You can even send them for training on how to maintain motivation, since productivity can’t exist without motivation. They may even feel grateful for the opportunity to have received the training and decide to show their appreciation by being extra productive. Either way, training will definitely improve productivity in the workplace. Training during Covid-19 is still possible in most places, as long as it complies with regulations and you take the necessary safety precautions.

Give them proper technology

While a lack of productivity often comes directly from the employees themselves, it can also be possible that working with old or outdated technology is slowing down their work. It can be incredibly frustrating to work with equipment and have it be a constant struggle, and if the technology they’re given is slow, their productivity will be negatively affected, no matter how motivated they are. You can’t expect modern results and productivity without giving them modern equipment. You might not be able to afford new technology right now, but see if there are any updates that you can run. If not, you need to accept the fact that your employees will never reach their full potential for productivity.

Incentives

If all else fails, bribe them. Okay, to be fair, incentives aren’t exactly bribery; more like rewards for good behavior. If you’re struggling to get your employees motivated and productive, your best bet is going to be to offer them incentives. Very few employees will go out of their way to be productive if there’s nothing in it for them. That being said, they’re more than likely to do it for money. Incentives are simple: the better their work, the more money they’ll get. There are various ways of designing employee incentive programs, so you should easily find a program that works for you as well as your employees.

Monitor

While you may not be able to watch your employees every second of their working day, there are ways of lighting a fire under them. If you pop into their office every now and then at random, they’ll never know when to expect you, and therefore always be on their best behavior. There are also ways of managing remote workers. There are apps that can tell you what time they logged on and off their computer, so that you can monitor how much time they’re putting in and ensure that they are working as many hours as they should.

Communicate

Miscommunications or misunderstandings can lead to work being done in the incorrect way. Of course, this means that that work will need to be redone and all the time spent on it was wasted. It’s your responsibility to communicate any instructions and deadlines very clearly to your employees, and it’s their responsibility to ask you for clarification if thy don’t understand you clearly. Being able to communicate effectively will help make your entire business run smoother. Employees are more likely to be productive if they know exactly what they need to do.

Remote work

If you have nay employees who you know are responsible enough to work from home, you should consider letting them. This will allow you to spend more time focusing on less-productive employees and you may even be able to pinpoint what is causing them to be unproductive, and work form there to fix it. Some employees may even be more productive while working from home, without the distractions of their coworkers. As mentioned, there are still ways to monitor remote workers, so that doesn’t need to be a worry. If there are less people in the office, the distractions will be less and your employees may be able to concentrate on their work. You may even like it so much that you decide to run your entire business with remote workers.

6 Ways to Increase Your Team’s Productivity

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | 6 Ways to Increase Your Team’s ProductivityLeading a team isn’t simple, no matter the size. Whether you’re in charge of a team of five or a team of 500, there are obstacles you must overcome. Your goal is efficient, hard-working staff that boost the business’ quality and increase profits. To do this, you must be a leader who promotes productivity, and here are six ways you can do that.

1. Communicate Effectively 

A crucial part of leadership is having excellent communication skills. Without them, you run the risk of miscommunication that will lead to errors, frustration, and loss of morale. Provide your staff with constructive feedback, a clearly defined task list, and have an open-door policy. This way, your team will know they can rely on you to be honest and give help where it is needed, which will boost productivity.

2. A Comfortable Environment

Assuming that you and your team work the standard 40-hour week, you are spending a third of your time in the workplace. By creating a bright, comfortable environment, you will cultivate a productive team that enjoys being at work. Add plants, install wide windows, and have an area where your team can hang out and discuss. You could even provide auto sliding doors that use sensors to open, providing your workplace with a brightened, automatic entrance.

3. Give Praise 

Acknowledging a job well done will boost a worker’s productivity. If your team is constantly hearing about where they’ve made errors, they will begin doubting themselves and it will show up in their work. By providing positive feedback, they will feel valued and have pride in their work, and they will carry on doing a great job.

4. Use Incentives 

People work best when they have a goal and a reward. Provide that reward by bringing incentives into the workplace, and you will see a definite uptick in hard work. In study findings written by Harold Stolovich, they found that incentive programs engaged participants, attracted quality employees, and that the employees valued the incentive programs. Some rewards you could employ include lunches out, coupons, and bonuses.

5. Understand Their Strengths

Each team member is an individual with their own strengths and weaknesses. You cannot expect one employee to work in the exact same way as another, so get to know your team and their strengths so that you can take advantage of them. It will benefit both you and the employees, as you get their best work while they are able to enjoy hitting their goals easily.

6. Leave Them to Their Work

Micro-managing results in a quick descent into unhappy employees. You hired them for a reason, so you should trust that they have the business’ best interest at heart and will do a fantastic job each day. Have confidence in your team by showing them freedom in their work and they will show you their appreciation through productivity. Their sense of responsibility will let them shine while allowing you to focus on other areas of the business.

Getting the Best out of Your Employees

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Getting the Best out of Your EmployeesAlthough everyone faces stress in their jobs from one time or another, for the most part, they should love what they do. As an employer, you need a reliable and positive team of staff that does their best every day; however, occasionally it can be hard to keep employees motivated. Here are some ideas to help you get the best out of your employees and keep them happy at work.

Recruitment

It all starts with hiring the right people for the job. The reality is that you can’t always predict how well an individual is going to work based purely on a resume and interview. Sometimes they can appear to be the perfect candidate, only to be less than impressive when they start the job. It’s worth looking at your recruitment techniques and seeing if there are any ways you can test candidates further before offering them a position. Use recruitment agencies to narrow down the applicants before you set up interviews.

Training

Every office tends to do things a little differently to others. Therefore take the time to train your staff on how you want things done. It could be that you need them to learn how to use a new computer program or a new compliance policy. Your staff won’t feel confident if they haven’t been trained efficiently and this will have an effect on their standards of work.

The Right Environment

Creating a positive working environment is also very important. If the office looks drab and gray, think about adding some color or plant life to make it feel less cold. Make sure that the staff break room is comfortable and stocked with a range of snacks and beverages. Perhaps consider introducing a work sports team that they can take part in recreationally? All of these little touches help your staff feel more comfortable at work and encouraging them to become friends means they can look forward to coming into work each day.

Communication

If you want to get the best from your staff, you need to be engaging in regular conversations with them about their progress. Hold appraisals where you can discuss with them how well they’re doing and in which areas they need to improve. This will also allow them to share any concerns they might have with you.

Also look at how the communication works in the office overall. Make sure your staff can communicate with each other quickly over the networks to complete work tasks faster. Contact IT support experts like Capstone IT Services (Florida) to help improve your business network.

Rewards

Finally, consider implementing a rewards system at work to motivate your staff to hit their targets and work to their best ability every day. This will let them know their hard work is appreciated and they will be recognized for their efforts.

It’s important to keep your staff happy at work. Consider using some of the ideas above to help boost morale in your office.

What staff can do to help boost agency profits

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | What staff can do to help boost agency profitsWorking in an agency can be a fantastic experience, but unless you work in sales or account management it can feel like there isn’t much you can do to help the company achieve better profits. Actually this doesn’t have to be the case at all, and there is plenty that you can do help your company be more of a success financially.

Make yourself accountable

There can be a problem at all levels of agencies where members of staff do not feel like they are accountable for the success of the company. In fact, everyone at the business has a role to play in ensuring the success of the organisation, and it is up to individuals to make themselves accountable to this fact.

For managers, the issue may be that there is no one to check to make sure they are accountable to the things they say they are going to do. For other members of staff, they may not feel that what they do can have a financial impact. However, as we will see, this is not true.

Find cost savings

There is a misconception around company profits with members of staff, and this is that the easiest way to boost them is by making more money. Of course, no-one is doubting this as a concept, but it hides the fact that there are other opportunities. One of the most important ways that you, as an employee, can improve your company profits is by spending less money.

If you can find cost savings in your department or your role, those savings act as pure profit for the company. That is money that was being spent before and is now no longer being spent. Consider where you and your department spends its money and look for ways you can reduce it.

Provide management with ideas and information

Don’t lose sight of the fact that you are the person who does your job every day, which means that you understand it better than anyone else in the company. That means those things that might seem completely obvious to you, may also be completely obscured to those in management. This puts the onus on you to provide your management with any ideas and information that could help you do your job, or help the business succeed.

Often it is the day-to-day activities that actually make the biggest difference to a business’ bottom line. So don’t be afraid to voice your opinion on matters, good management will find it extremely valuable.

Be dedicated and go the extra mile

No matter what your job entails you have options with how you perform it. You can go through the day doing the bare minimum, or you can actually show hard work and dedication. Businesses love engaged staff and it is not just because this means more productive employees – when you show your dedication to the business you are showing your potential for the future.

This means that being that person who goes the extra is not only a great benefit to the company, it also provides you with far better career prospects.

Request training that you’ll actually benefit from

Ask yourself: how many times have you been on a training course where there really doesn’t seem to be much point at all to it? Too often when businesses provide training, they are have actually just followed the ideas of someone who doesn’t really understand what will be a benefit to your team.

Instead you should be proactive. Talk to your manager about the kind of training that you would actually benefit from. Once again this will pay dividends in that you will get the training that can help the business, but it will also provide you with valuable tools and skills to make it easier for you to advance your career.

“One of the biggest issues I see in owner-managed agencies is the gulf in understanding between top managers and their employees/managers. If you hope to bridge this gap, you have to invest in training your future leaders.”

Da Costa Coaching

Stop overservicing

Interesting details from the State of Agency Workflow Management report revealed that nearly half of all agencies revealed a loss of 11% due to overservicing. Overservicing is a term that means that those agencies were delivering work for clients that they were not getting paid for – and that is a major problem.

The old adage ‘time is money’ is never more appropriate than when talking about agencies, and if you are spending your time doing work that no-one is paying you for, then you are wasting both your time and your money.