How great would it be to end a with a happy smile and satisfaction? Employees would feel happy and energized when they finish every task on their to-do list for the day. Nothing feels more satisfying than striking of jobs in the to-do list. In a day, people spend most of their day i.e., 8-9 hours at the workplace. It becomes crucial for people to manage their time well. When all assigned tasks for the day are accomplished the employee will not feel burdened and would work enthusiastically the next day too.
Most people are not highly productive because of two reasons. One is because of habits that hinder our productivity and the other is because people are reactive rather than being proactive. When you spend most of your day responding to others issue your productivity would surely get slumped.
Wondering
Why it is important to improve your productivity?
Any thriving business would understand the importance of productivity. Being productive will bring so many benefits to your business. Productivity provides an organisation to utilise its workforce capabilities to the maximum. It brings joy not only to the organisation but to employees too. When your workplace will be filled with happy and satisfied employees, it would decrease employee turnover and would save the company from many costs. Productivity in your workplace will automatically be translated into excellent customer interaction and service. The ultimate purpose of your business is to keep your customers happy.
If your employees are productive then the person who will benefit in the end is the customers, you see all your employees are working to satisfy your customers. So when your productivity increases your customers will automatically be satisfied. Employees are an investment for an organisation. So when they are productive it would boost them and the workplace culture. It would help you in boosting morale and producing a better workplace environment. Productivity in the workplace is a highly important aspect for a business, when a company realises the importance of it then success will automatically follow. And when an organisation becomes successful then employees will also be benefited as many incentives will be available for them such as bonus, medical insurance, pay rise etc. Lastly, your employees will feel more valued and they will be engaging with great interest in the work.
How to improve your productivity?
Improving productivity is not such a hard task. If you have a plan or strategy to avoid wasting too much time then you can accomplish this feat.
Here are a few effective strategies to improve your productivity.
Track
You need to keep track of the amount you’re spending on a task. In a day you would be given so many tasks to finish. So it becomes your responsibility to finish all of them in time and maintain the quality too. If you spend too much time on one task then your other tasks may take a backseat. To avoid spending too much time on one task, keep a track on how much time you’re spending on a particular task. This practice will help you in understanding the amount of time you need to finish all your tasks and how much time you’re wasting.
Only 17 per cent of people keep a track and estimate the amount of time they’re spending on a particular task. So, why not follow this simple method to understand your work better and improve your productivity. With technological advancements, everything has become easy so is tracking your time, there are many apps available that can assist you in keeping track of the time you spent on all the activities throughout the day.
Self-imposed deadlines
There is no better method than having self-imposed restrictions. If you do that then you save a great deal of your time and other too. If you have self-imposed deadlines to finish a particular task then you would surely be ahead of your bosses deadline. It will help as you don’t have to worry about rushing to finish the task in the last minute. It will help you in focusing on meeting the quality and reaching your goals on time. Sometimes you will be given open-ended projects or tasks, in such cases, it will help you if you give yourself a deadline and stick to it. Try this practice and you would be surprised to see how focused and productive you can be.
‘’Two-minutes’’ rule
The idea of this rule is to immediately perform a task if you know it will take two or less than 2 minutes. Steve Olenski, an entrepreneur has recommended using this rule as it will improve your productivity and helps you get a feeling of satisfaction. Most people think that tackling big tasks before small tasks will help the task and manage their tasks better. It is simply an opinion but if you finish small tasks first it will give a feeling that your work is moving forward. Whereas when you’re dealing with big tasks first there are high chances of you losing your morale and getting demotivated seeing the pile of work waiting for you.
No meetings
People always think meetings are important. But there are two kinds of meetings i.e., productive and unproductive meetings. If you’re stuck in an unproductive meeting it will suck both your time and interest. Before conducting a meeting, it is important to analyse whether this particular meeting is necessary to be conducted. Can the message go across through emails or phones? Question yourself. If yes? Then maybe it is better to say no to the meeting and concentrate that particular time on finishing the tasks in hand.
Reports show that on average an office worker spends more than 31 hours of each month in unproductive meetings. What is the point of being stuck in unproductive meetings? while you can use that to accomplish all your goals. If it is mandatory to hold a meeting regarding that particular issue then you can hold standing meetings. Yup, you heard it right. Standing meetings are the meeting that happens on a go or fast, where all the people attending the meeting are standing. It will result in decreased territoriality, improved group performance.
Focus on the task in-hand
Many things multitasking will help efficiency and allows you to finish your work faster. But if not done right, it may cause some serious delays to your work. So quit multitasking and concentrate on one single task to finish your work on time and improve your productivity. Taking up one project at a time will help you in delivering the project with quality. Doing several tasks at once can affect your productivity and result in losing time.
Reduce distractions
There are so many distractions around you. One of them is sitting right on your desk. If you reduce spending your time on all these distractions. You will improve your quality and deliver it on time. Having conversations with your colleague may seem harmless but unknowingly it may take up a lot of your time and can cause a change to your work pattern. If you’re working on a sensitive project it is better to work from home or keep your door closed to concentrate on your work. If you are committed to improving your productivity at any cost then cut back the interruptions, stop putting in long hours of work and find ways to work smarter.
Proactive
Taking incoming calls or answering emails may take up a lot of your time unknowingly. Even if those emails and calls are work-related. It means you have put too much effort into putting down the fires but, at the end of the day, your work will keep piling up. So to avoid such situations, keep aside time for calls and emails. Plan your day and make sure you follow the plan at any cost. If you let the calls or emails determine your day then there are high chances of your work getting stumped. So, make sure to make a strategy and follow it.
Regular breaks
Taking regular breaks is important both for your health and work. When you’re constantly sitting and working at a place it is possible that you would feel stressed or less interested to finish your work. So, why not take a small break of 5 min to 10 min between your work intervals to make sure that the quality of your will not be decreased, you would not be stressed and finish your tasks on time. Taking short breaks while dealing with long tasks may help your brain to get refreshed and improve your performance.
Conclusion
There are so many factors involved in improving the productivity of an employee. If you follow the right strategy this task is easy to attain. Improving productivity may help the business and take it towards success. Not only that it brings a higher rate of customer and employee satisfaction too. What are you waiting for? Why not try the above-mentioned methods to improve productivity and improve the quality of your work and workplace culture.
