Increasing Office Productivity

An optimized workplace leads to better production and higher profits, so it’s important to always look for improvements.

Many improvements to office efficiency don’t require any drastic changes either.

In this case it’s best to sweat the small stuff.

Here’s nine simple tips to increase office productivity:

1. Make Sure You Delegate
This first tip is one that most people both understand and struggle to implement effectively. Trust your employees to do their jobs. It can be tempting to micromanage but ultimately your intended help can get in the way and slow things down. Worse yet, it can communicate to your employees that you don’t trust them to do their jobs which can lead to a poor work environment.

2. Allow Small Breaks
Occasional breaks are necessary to maintain focus and motivation when you sit down to accomplish a task. I don’t mean checking Facebook or Twitter, but actually getting up, walking around and chatting with a co-worker for 10 minutes can make a huge difference. Schedule breaks for yourself, and understand the breaks your employees take are part of an efficient work place (as long as they’re not excessive).

3. Communicate Effectively
Everyone knows communication is crucial to a productive workplace, but some of the most common communication methods can prove time-consuming including email. There’s a lot of great new communication applications, and I recommend trying some out. Here’s an article I found with some recommendations.

4. Keep Your Workplace Organized
This can mean keeping an organized office space, desktop and/or inbox. Having to deal with office clutter of any kind is a waste of time for everyone. It requires a lot of effort to look through unorganized files and, so it’s worth a little bit of work on the front end to make sure everything stays organized.

5. Keep Goals Clear and Focused
The goals you set for yourself and for your employees need to be specific, measurable and timely. Let them know exactly what you expect of them, and tell them specifically how their assigned task will move the company forward.

6. Give Your Employees Real Incentives 
In addition to a simple “thank you,” you should try more concrete methods to incentivize employees. These incentives don’t always have to be a raise or bonus. A good one is telling your own boss about the accomplishments of others. If you email a team member thanking them for a job well done, considering copying your boss on the email.

7. Use Your Calendar 
Your calendar can be the single most helpful time management tool you have when used effectively. It only takes a small amount of time each day to manage and maintain. Make a habit of blocking out pieces of time for specific tasks and stick to those time-frames.

8. Train Your Employees
Reducing training, or cutting it all together is not a good way to save time or money. Taking the extra day to train new hires helps avoid errors down the road and gives them the confidence to do their jobs without anyone holding their hand.

9. Give and Ask for Feedback
This one’s simple but it needs to be said. Without occasional feedback, it’s unlikely that you or your employees will reliably increase the productivity of your business.