Productivity at any workplace, especially in startups is an important marker to understand how successful a company is going to become. Productivity doesn’t necessarily mean spending long hours at the workplace and going through too much stress to perform.
If you are an entrepreneur, you must first understand that there can be a number of factors that directly or indirectly impact the productivity levels of your employees. Every person has a unique approach to addressing and accepting challenges thrown at him, albeit he remains focused on giving his 100%. Thus, it can be safely concluded that happy, energetic and motivated staff is no less than an asset to a growing organization.
However, you also have to get your act together and take certain measures in order to enhance employee productivity at your workstation. You must create a better ambiance and healthy atmosphere along with a series of effective steps in order to squeeze best out of your employees. But the key question is: how are you going to do that?
Here are some great tips to increase office productivity:
1. Communicate with them effectively
If you want your workforce to be productive, you should be aware of the importance of communication. A proper communication reduces wastage of time and provides the staff with necessary tools to succeed. Incorporating effective communication in your workplace will arm each of your employees with more information, and due to which they will feel more empowered. Establishing a good communicating culture avoids misunderstanding among employees as well as between them and you. Since a precise and accurate interpretation of messages is very important for the success of an organization, as opposed to remaining in a state of constant confession. Finally and most importantly, effective communication provides direction to your team because knowing where the team is, where it needs to go and what steps need to be taken to get there, should be amply clear.
2. Set realistic and attainable targets
If your employees feel overloaded with work all the time, they will get stressed, which in turn will promote procrastination in the office. This is because the staff will be overwhelmed due to the unrealistic nature of the task. Therefore, being a pragmatic employer you should set achievable goals for your employees so that they would always feel motivated with a feeling of accomplishment. Moreover, the very notion of pursuing a particular task that seems attainable within time encourages workers to go after it. Although giving a challenge to employees can be a good idea, but it should be once in a while. Otherwise, they will burn out.
3. Make everyone accountable
Inject a sense of accountability in the minds of every employee for their actions and decisions. It is an excellent way to encourage them to be more cautious and meticulous towards their work, thereby cutting the risk of committing mistakes. They must be clear exactly what is expected of them and how they are going about it. In the event of any outcome, every employee should be ready to accept their responsibility. Furthermore, a sense of accountability in employees provides them a sense of ownership, which makes them feel that they also have a stake in the company. Also, you shouldn’t be partial or biased in setting accountability as it can become counter-productive.
4. Recognize and encourage their good work
It is extremely important that your employees should remain motivated and encouraged in order to perform outstandingly. Many studies have also established the fact that recognition from bosses in the form of genuine words of praise, monetary benefits or other incentives in a great morale booster. Naturally, the employee feels to put in, even more, efforts so that next time he will get something bigger. You can organize regular small office parties where you can offer them drinks with personalized beer labels in order to keep them happy engaged, happy and encouraged. On the contrary, if an employee feels unappreciated or less-valued despite having given best efforts, he will more likely leave you.
5. Lead from the front
This is a very important part that you yourself have to perform – be a role model. If you take the stand, show character and face the challenges coming in your way head-on, it will leave a very positive impression on your employees. When they see their boss work or use innovative strategies to tackle a particular situation, they will also learn to incorporate them in their way of functioning as well.