As an employer, your primary focus is keeping your business afloat by maintaining staff productivity, which increases company efficiency and customer satisfaction (or at least, we hope it is!). However, productivity can quickly decline if repetitive tasks make workers uninterested and tired, causing them to lose momentum. If improving productivity in the workplace or remotely is becoming necessary, you'll need to implement the right strategies to help your business succeed.
The U.S. annual productivity average dropped 1.3% in 2022, a dip the nation hasn't seen since 1974. If you're also noticing a decline in your company in recent years, we know how to reverse it. We'll break down how to keep employees engaged so they'll no longer miss deadlines, make paperwork mistakes, or cause revenue loss.
Gamify Work
When employees begin to feel that work is monotonous or uninteresting, one way we've found to bring back the ambition in your staff is to "gamify" work. Creating a scoreboard with a rewards system is a great way to create healthy competition within your organizations culture. Best of all, that competition equates to more productivity, and ultimately, a better bottom line. If creating a Gamified culture in your company feels overwhelming here's a few good vendor options to look into.
Each option has its own unique benefits, but Centrical is our personal favorite, due to its ability to be used in such a broad range of industries. Shameless plug here, but Micro Solutions is also able to support a broad range of industries.
While gamifying your organization seems like an instant fix, you'll need to tie these games to KPI's (Key Performance Indicators). This can be an treturous process for organizations that may be knew to productivity tracking. Using past years productivity results are always a good baseline to start with.
Set Regular Goals
When assigning tasks to employees, task and deadline ambiguity can cause discrepancies in the workflow. Therefore, set regular goals, such as "finish part A of the project by Monday at 6 PM" rather than "get as much as you can done by the end of the week." That way, workers understand their jobs and can plan their time to meet their goals.
When it comes to pushing the gas pedal and getting these goals achieved, it may be valuable to start researching the SCRUM management model. Here's a helpful guide to start your research process. In a nutshell, Scrum is summed up by Indeed.com as
"Organizations use scrum project management to boost their market sustainability. It's important for companies to optimize their products before their competitors take the opportunity. Scrum relies on collaborative decision-making and frequent feedback to deliver higher-quality products. Getting your clients' and team members' opinions can help you continually improve your products to remain competitive. Scrum project management focuses on practicability through experimental procedures to implement, plan and react to change efficiently and rapidly.
Being specific also gives employees a competitive edge since they must work against the clock to achieve something. For instance, when playing a video game, if gamers must beat a level in a given amount of time, the countdown acts as another challenge. A work deadline does the same, increasing productivity levels but ensuring realistic goals don't overwhelm workers.
Set Up a Reward System
The above goals promote more intrinsic motivation since they encourage individuals to meet office goals for their own personal satisfaction. However, if work goals aren't enough to motivate some employees, try improving productivity in the workplace with more physical rewards. From raises and promotions to more vacation days and office parties, these aid in extrinsic motivation. This should be easy to implement if you are starting to follow a gamification process!
Reduce Procrastination
Since you can't keep an eye on all employers at all times, especially those who work remotely, it's difficult to tell if phones, television, or social media are distracting them. However, even some things you do as an employer contribute to procrastination since anything that pulls employees away from a task at hand is a distraction.
Limit meetings to about once a week, and don't prolong them if you find a solution to your issues quickly. That allows employees to return to work faster, so there's less time wasted on unnecessary activities.
You can also reduce interruptions in a work environment by:
- Using more efficient real-time tools like Slack, which is faster than sending multiple emails
- Setting time aside for lunches and happy hours so personal conversations among colleagues happen within that time rather than during work hours
- Encouraging an organized workstation and online work files and folders
- Remember, nothing is more powerful than in person interactions. Struggling to close deals? Get IN PERSON meetings on the calendar to really move the needle.
Strive for Peak Efficiency Today!
To improve employee workflow, it's up to the business leaders to create engagement with the right motivation and project management techniques. Gamification, Goal Setting, Rewards, Procrastination Prevention. Want more ways to fine efficiency in your business?
Proactive IT and Cybersecurity is a great place to start. Look no further than Micro Solutions Totalcare Packages to design your full service package today.
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