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4 Hacks to Become More Productive In Business

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Productivity levels are as important to a business as its revenue streams. In fact, the true character of a company can only be found out from the productivity levels of the workers. Still for many businesses productivity levels seem to be an abstract concept. The point is that a business without a tight grip on its productivity levels is bound to suffer. Here are 5 hacks to become more productive in business. They may take some time to implement and some more time for the workers to get used to it, but the long-term results are promising in terms of work satisfaction and revenue generation.

Control of phones

All organizations must keep a close eye on their workers’ tendencies to use their phones at work. It’s a worrying habit because everyone is a victim of it. All it takes is one notification sound to divert their attention for 10-15 minutes or even more. However, to avert this, a business can establish no notification zones.

In the workplace there should be no notification zones where it’s not allowed to check the phone for notifications. Unless it is a phone call, employees should not be allowed to take out their phones at all in these zones. In case they need to check their phone, they should excuse themselves and leave the room to do so.

To do list apps

Several software companies make specialized apps for businesses to use. A to-do list app that can be centrally accessed can work wonders for an organization. The benefits of such an app are aplenty, some of them include:

• Keeping track of all job schedules.

• Supervisors are able to check which worker is lagging.

• Allotment of work becomes easier.

In case the organization is unable to afford investing in a personalized application, it can always look for free alternatives in the app stores.

Reading business articles

Reading business magazines and journals, especially the types that are suited to the workers’ job requirements must be encouraged by the organizational heads. Here’s how an organization can encourage its workers to read more:

• Subscribing to magazines and newspapers related to the field of work undertaken by the organization.

• Sharing websites and article links on a common social space for all workers to view and read. There are several knowledgeable websites which business professionals must read. For instance, Fabweb.Org is a great website which keeps its readers up to date on the latest technological and business advancements around the world.

Refusing additional work

Productivity does not mean taking up a large number of tasks and not being able to finish any one of them. It is measured in terms of how successful the worker has been in the process of completion of all the tasks that have been assigned to him/her. If they feel that taking up additional work could hamper their chances of finishing their assigned work, workers should be given the chance to refuse it.

Apart from following these guidelines, you must also have trust in the workers and give them their freedom to do their best. Only then can your business become truly productive.

How To Better Engage Your Employees

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Engaging your employees benefits everyone; your staff is happier, and the business experiences more success. It’s worth your time and energy to find ways that help build a collaborative environment. It’s no longer acceptable to hire people and let them figure it all out on their own.

Guide your employees and make them feel like part of a team. They’ll work hard and be more satisfied overall. Leadership has to step up and take the initiative if you want to experience real change. You’ll be glad to know that there are many practical ways for increasing engagement and creating a culture that encourages involvement and new ideas.

 

Ask for their Feedback

You don’t know what your employees want or what motivates them unless you ask. Be vocal and ask your staff to speak up when they have opinions or grievances to share. Include them in meetings and hold brainstorming sessions to get their input on important initiatives. Have a spot where they can go to share ideas and suggestions on a daily basis. This will not only engage them, but build a deeper connection between each other and different levels of employees.

Innovate Mundane Tasks

Take a look around and dive deep into getting a better idea of what your employees do all day. For example, if you have a call center, try sprucing it up by implementing call center gamification. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it creates a better work experience. Upgrade your technology, innovate repetitive tasks and always be thinking about how to make your environment more engaging for your staff. This will keep them interested in their work and make them want to be loyal to the company for taking such good care of them.

Collaborate with Departments

Silos make it difficult for anyone to feel excited about their job. It makes you feel like you’re the only one doing any work and you never get the bigger picture of how the business works. Engage your employees by having them work together, no matter which department they’re assigned to. Create a company culture that’s informative of what others do on a daily basis, and that knows how to build relationships with each other, no matter their job or title. Set a goal to bring everyone together once a month or quarter and notice how much better everyone starts working together.

Assign Coaches or Mentors

Hold your employees accountable for the work they do. Push and encourage them to work harder by assigning each person a mentor or coach. These meetings will help make sure that your staff members are getting the attention they deserve and progressing along nicely. Your employees will be focused on getting involved in their work and performing better, since they know someone’s watching.

Conclusion

It’s always a good idea to invest in your employees. Keep them around longer by engaging them on a daily basis. Be open about your initiative and seek additional ideas from staff and leadership members.

How to Motivate Your Employees

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Employees who lack motivation will only slow down the productivity and growth of your business. Yet, the responsibility to work harder is not solely their responsibility. It is an employer’s job to ensure they inspire their staff each day to maximize their performance. Find out how to motivate your employees.

Focus on Individuals

Employees can often become frustrated in their role when they feel they are simply another number in the business. If a member of staff feels undervalued or isolated in their role, you can almost guarantee they’ll have less passion for the company, and will not be willing to work as hard as they once had for the business.

Take a few moments out of your day to speak to individuals, so you can make your team feel appreciated. Remember to offer direct praise for an employee’s job well done, which could be as simple as a “thank you” or a monetary bonus. Also, if you notice an employee is unhappy or underperforming, take the team member aside to discuss how they are feeling and to find a solution, which will prove you are willing to go above and beyond to make them feel happy and comfortable at work.

Create a Relaxed Workplace

The work environment can significantly affect employee morale and productivity. If you want your office to have a positive impact on your staff’s mentality, you should review the workplace layout. For example, it might be helpful to pull down the cubicle walls to create a more open, collaborative space – or you could introduce a relaxing break room. If you are unsure where to start, contact professional office designers in London to transform a space, such as STOiCA Office.

Provide Advancement Opportunities

Many employees can become bored of the same routine month after month, or even year after year. Providing advancement opportunities will, therefore, give a member of staff a reason to work harder, while helping to grow your business. So, rather than hiring external candidates, utilize the talent and knowledge of your internal employees, who will revel in their new responsibilities and tasks. It’s an effective way to harness their passion for the industry while retaining your best employees.

Lead by Example

An employer sets the tone for values, work ethic and passion for the business. If you’re always late, you can guarantee your staff will follow in your footsteps. If you browse the internet, they’ll do the same, and so on. It is important to lead by example when running a business, as your commitment to the industry and passion for hard work can become infectious across the company. Always try to have a positive attitude to every situation, even when facing difficult challenges, which will encourage your team to mirror your actions.

Develop a Transparent Environment

Employees will fail to trust their employer if they believe the business is keeping secrets from them. You can guarantee they will respect you as a leader if you are open and transparent about the company and any upcoming changes. The more transparent you are, the more comfortable they will feel when approaching you with an idea or problem, too. Introduce an open-door policy to ensure every team member feels their voice is being heard and that their opinions are valued.

Top Benefits to Offer Your Employees for Improved Productivity

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Regardless of how much you may want your employees to work at their best all the time, this simply isn’t possible. Your employees are people, and they have good days, and bad days, and their productivity workflow will reflect this. Sometimes, however, an employee’s decreasing productivity and effectiveness is more substantial, and that is when you need to step in and help. Stress, and constant stress, can severely impact someone’s health. It can put them in pain, it can lower their immune system, and it could even put them on the edge of a breakdown. Offering your employees benefits can help them manage this stress, meaning that not only will they be happier working for you, they will also be better able to work for you. Here are the top benefits you should offer your employees:

1. A Break Room

Having a proper break room will allow your employees somewhere to get away from their desk and to refuel. Offer complimentary tea, coffee, and even snacks like protein bars to help keep them going whenever they need it. Similarly, you should also aim to have a few kitchen appliances as well, like a fridge, microwave, and even a toaster oven. Encourage your employees to be healthier, and to bring their own food. To do this, you could have a reward program for the employee who brings their own lunch in the most often at the end of the month.

2. A Spa Visit

Stress and sitting at a desk all day causes physical pain. It can cause seriously painful and distracting back problems that lower productivity immensely, which is why a great benefit to offer is an annual or bi-annual massage. Contact heavenandearthmassage.co.uk and set up a program for your employees. They will not only be thrilled with this benefit, but it will help them manage pain and de-stress.

3. Rewards for Milestones

Pitting your employees against each other doesn’t do a lot of good. Instead, it means that those who would achieve the results in the first-place work harder to beat each other, and those that aren’t likely to win will try less. Instead, offer rewards for milestones. That way everyone is motivated to do better. These rewards don’t have to be big. They can be a few extra days of vacation, or they can be tickets to some event in town. Reward your employees so that they work for positive reinforcement, not because they are stressing about not making the deadline in time.

4. In-Office Gym

Depending on the size of your company, you can either offer discounted memberships to gyms, or even install a gym inside your office space itself. Encourage your employees to exercise, so that they have improved immune systems, lower blood pressure, increased mood, and overall a bigger boost in energy.

These benefits won’t cost the world, but they can give a lot back. You don’t want your employees to burn out working for you, you want them to be on top of their game, and these benefits can help them do that.

The Secrets Of A Productive Business

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article
Photo courtesy of Pexels

In terms of time that you need to organise yourself, your staff and a successful business, it can seem like you barely have any to work with at all. The saying goes that we’ve got the same amount of time in the day as (insert extremely successful person here), yet surely we cannot be doing everything ourselves in order to propel ourselves forwards. So what are the secrets of those who are managing to get everything done? Don’t panic – it’s not all as mysterious and time-consuming as it may seem.

Pssttt … It’s Not Just Them.

There are people in this world who are super-productive. But to truly succeed, they need a firm foundation of people who are willing to help them achieve what they want and need to achieve. It’s a case that is first rooted in education. Those who are given the privilege of succeeding are more likely to go further than those who put the work in. It’s unfair, but unfortunately a fact of life. To truly succeed in the business world, you need to be able to pass your work over to those who are more able.

How Do I Find The More Able?

You think outside of the box. Don’t just look towards humans – look towards technology, too. The computers that are able to process things a thousand times faster than we ourselves are able to. The apps that can help us out with simple things that take way longer for humans to complete. For example, investing in real-time ID scanning and ID authentication rather than having clients visit you or having to take time out of their schedule to go one step further in validating their existence will save not just you the hassle, but your customers too. This is beneficial to the both of you. It’ll keep your customers coming back.

So What Happens After That?

Keep the simplicity coming. Delegate the jobs that need delegating, whether to human or computer. Focus on your own management issues and stylings and think about whether these need working on. This is something that technology definitely can’t help out with. There are resources online to let you know what you should be doing to keep your team happy, if you have one, or what you need to do to increase productivity/effectiveness of your staff, but it’s more a case of trying and testing these theories. Everybody is different, and that goes for not just you but your staff as well.  Especially in terms of project management, certain tactics work well in some situations but not so much in others. It’s a way of being able to move forward and get more stuff done in the time that you have given to it. Setting yourself limits on the time that you have can definitely aid you in regards to getting a set amount of work done in a set amount of time, but it’s more about recognising the impact of said work and how much it positively impacts your business.