“People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the company’s product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.” – Mary Kay Ash, founder, Mary Kay Cosmetics
Running a business successfully is a lot more than just tallying up the monthly balance sheet or having a great-looking website. Companies are driven by human beings who put real ideas, feelings and emotions into doing their jobs to the best of their abilities.
When employees are generally unhappy or not being rewarded for their efforts, productivity and efficiency can sink to an all-time low. Here’s what you can do to make sure you don’t find yourself at the receiving end as a business owner.
1. Encourage Employees to Relax
Studies indicate that employees who pay attention to their physical activity and fitness level are not only high performers, but generally have a very positive outlook on their work and office environment.
You should encourage employees to stretch regularly, take breaks from time to time and even engage in simple yoga moves as part of the workday. Sitting at a desk all day or staring at a PC screen for several hours on end can seriously affect productivity.
Ask everyone to get up and move around every 1-1.5 hours just to keep the juices flowing. Right before lunch hour or after meetings, you can have a quick yoga or aerobic routine. In addition, you can also encourage everybody to pursue an active lifestyle outside of work by sitting down and discussing ideas to stay in shape.
Some employers have gone as far as to dedicate an entire floor to gym and fitness equipment. However, make sure this does not end up being tedious or forceful. Also, make sure to take proper precautionary measures to avoid workplace injuries, including slips and falls.
2. Identify “Motivation Killers” – Get Rid of ’em!
You need to give this one careful thought – what are the underlying factors that are killing employee motivation? After all, if there’s little motivation, there’s going to be limited productivity or in some cases, none at all.
A good leader is also a keen observer. He/she will be quick to identify problems that are having adverse effects on employee productivity and efficiency. The usual suspects in this case may include:
- toxic and abrasive personalities – people who are quick to propagate negativity in the workplace
- lack of professional development and advancement
- no organizational vision or long-term goals
- no appreciation or positive feedback mechanism
- poor communication channels
You need to identify all such issues with an open mind and find ways to address them in a highly positive way that’s also rewarding for employees.
3. Technology is Your Friend, as are Telecommuting Privileges
Not leveraging technology can be a grave mistake. There are a number of apps and tools available today that boost workplace productivity. Asana, for example, is one collaborative app that can lead to increased employee productivity, particularly if they’re required to communicate between different office setups.
For a fact, some workers do better when they are allowed to work from locations they are generally more comfortable with, such as their homework setup. For others, traveling can be expensive and/or time-consuming, so consider telecommuting, which can also boost productivity, according to this Harvard Business Report study.
However, make sure to explain all new technologies properly so that there is no rejection. Employees often feel anxious about new ideas; you must take steps to reduce this anxiety. This can be done by answering questions or providing tutorials.
4. Effective Communication Is Key
It’s no secret that open lines of communication lead to a highly productive workforce. Thanks to technology, we can communicate with each other at the touch of a button, or rather at the flick/tap of a finger, in some cases.
One would be inclined to believe that communication is efficient at all times, right? Not quite; one study found that too many emails, for example, can consume nearly 30% of an employee’s time.
Now we certainly don’t have anything against email; it is still one of the most effective forms of communication if used appropriately. However, if quick team communication is needed, a tool like Slack is better than just email. Or if you feel that a brief conversation can better resolve a matter rather than going back and forth with emails, go for it!
5. Set Clear Goals and Expectations
Do you honestly expect employees to be efficient if they don’t know what they’re aiming for?
- Step one: define clear goals.
- Step two: know what is expected of employees.
Without this formula, your employees may be shooting in the dark, focusing on mundane and redundant tasks day after day, eventually becoming less productive.
Try the SMART system: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely. Click To TweetBefore assigning tasks, see if those tasks fit each one of the above requirements. If they don’t, determine ways to tweak those tasks so that workers stay efficient, productive and focused.
That covers it! Take the above into consideration and arm your workforce with the tools they need to be more productive.
Originally published 11/28/16; updated and infographic added 6/18/20.
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I agree with number 2 the most.
Find out the very reasons why people are demotivated to work.
Some due to toxic environment and other reasons that you have mentioned. If we can rid of such negativity, our assets (employees) can ramp up their productivity and contribute even more for the company.
Win-win. 🙂
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thnak you sir your advice is so important i really liked your website and tips
great sir
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I agree that one of the most important is to feel with your employees and be one of them. Creating a positive workplace atmosphere is crucial in terms of both workplace happiness and your team members’ productivity and energy levels, and that all starts with you setting a cheerful tone. By offering consistent praise and recognition, your team will be excited and eager to contribute to company-wide initiatives. Thank you for the wonderful information.
Thank you for all of this great advice for advancing work productivity! I think embracing new technology is so important too, it can keep people more engaged and make things easier. Great post!
Hi Ahmad,
Great stuff, liked your article very much and definitely telecommuting is one thing some people prefer nowadays.
Ankit Gandhi would love you to read ..Applications of Sentiment Analysis in Business
This is amazing stuff you sharing with us. Really very cool. I hope and believe it will help me a lot. Thanks for sharing.
That’s an awesome share. “Effective Communication” is the key. It very true. Everything depends on the clear communication.
These Tips definitely work. Thanks again for making it so clear
thank you for the article very valuable info. certainly will be an impetus to improve my productivity.
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Making work place delightful is very important. Employees will be more productive if work environment is flexible and more cheerful.
Personally, I put ‘Effective Communication’ as first because without that the team cannot come out a good result.
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You provided really effective tips on how we can improve productivity in the workplace. Encouraging your employees to relax is really important to avoid burnout at work and stay efficient.
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A nice workplace can improve working mentality. So we need to have good place to work. it creates great environment for working with work station.
#Ahmad
productive workplace also helps to boost performace of employee efficiency, also it helps to feel more relax. #NiceTips
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Very true! All the tips you gave can really enhance the productivity. Myself being an employee, if I get all the above, I will surely love to work in such kind of environment
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Hello Ahmad, this is an awesome post for me actually I must say. I was not looking for such article but still I stayed here because I feel that this article could help me so I continued. As we are planning to go for IT startup and looking for space right now, I hope these lines which I just gone through will help us to increase our productivity. thanks bro
Regards,
Peter
Its really amazing to know about how to improve productivity of workplace. Thank you so much for writing this helpful blog here for us.
Its really amazing blog with very much helpful information about improve workplace productivity. Thank you so much for this great blog.
Workplace is like your second home. You must take care of it and make it more productive.
Hey Ahmad,
Just fantastic productivity tips you sharing. Indeed I am wondering for this type of great improvement productivity tips but today i will got. Thanks a lot.
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I really liked the site and also the tips and posts thank you very much and congratulations to the website !!