Productivity at your work is certainly a buzz in this modern competitive world. A workplace without productivity would be a world in chaos for the most part.
There is a famous quote that says
Time was invented so that everything doesn’t happen at the same time.
So, therefore, productivity was created so that in order to complete the task that needs to be done, the person is as efficient as possible for it.
And not just at the workplace, in order to maintain the proper productivity everywhere you got to maintain the same productiveness at home as well. Otherwise, that might just affect your overall work process afterward.
Always remember that while you become more productive you not only gain freedom but also gain peace of mind. This is something we all want in our lives, don't we?
Now in this post, we will get to find out the importance of being productive and some essential tips to stay productive at your workstation.
Importance of being Productive at work
It is essential to be productive at the workplace as it would contribute to the growth of output, revenues and living standards. More importantly, being productive means, you are efficiently using the available resources such as time, money and labor in order to maximize your output. But productivity would be worthless without effectiveness. This means you know what are the right things to do with the input in order to produce the best output. Therefore a famous economist said
‘Efficiency is doing the thing right. Effectiveness is doing the right thing’
So how exactly does being productive helps in your business or workplace? Here is some important factor in which productivity makes some major differences in:
- Boosts the profitability
- Reducing the operational cost
- Resource optimization
- Improvement in client service
- Reduces wastes of time, money & resources
- Clinching the chances of growth
- Enhances mental satisfaction of the employee
- Boosts in personal well-being
- Reduces stress, exhaustion or total burnout
- Improves competitiveness among competitors
10 Awesome Tips to Stay Ultra-Productive at Work
Get Rid of Distractions
Nowadays smartphones are at the hand of everyone and it isn’t practical to have no phone policy at work premises either. So scrolling through social media and browsing other social networking sites while working is a huge productivity killer at work. And such a situation you would need to keep the employees focused and more engaged in the work that they are supposed to do.
Now to ensure more productivity at their desk, you might want to encourage them to keep their mobile switched off indirectly but provide a regular break in between work for them to check their cell phones. This will certainly help in maintaining more productive hours at the office.
Promote Using the Right Tools
Equipping the employees with the right tools can significantly improve their productivity. This also enables them to perform their daily duties efficiently and on time. At the workplace, there is nothing more unproductive than having to wait for simple paperwork for hours just because your office doesn’t own a fast printing tool.
Similarly, smart tools like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, etc. can also come in handy when it comes to improving productivity while conducting a project. Making such modern equipment and tools available to the employees not only makes a massive difference in productivity but also makes the work process of the company smoother. You will be able to save both time and effort using a high-quality yet affordable complete task management tool like WP Project Manager, which can make your daily critical project management practice easier than ever.
Ensure Employee Satisfaction
A stressful working environment leads to many unhappy employees in every workplace. And so keeping your employees unhappy can never yield positive results for your company. And more often than not, you will eventually find those employees to be less productive than others either for their disengagement or is not capable of meeting deadlines.
Now in order to ensure employee satisfaction, the company would need to show them how much they value and appreciate their employees if required even on a personal level. In many cases, companies tend to overlook the importance of showing gratitude to their employees. But if you really want to have your employees to the best of their ability then they need to be happy. So do whatever it takes to keep them satisfied and loyal to the company. This will certainly improve productivity leading to more positive outcomes for the company.
Provide Better Work Environment
If you are not provided with a comfortable working environment then there is every chance you would fail to concentrate on the work you are doing. Say, comfortable working temperature is around 20-21” C. And as a company, if you are unable to ensure this comfort then this could hamper the overall productivity. An environment that is too hot or too cold may just break the concentration of the employees while working.
Not just temperature, it is also your duty to arrange chairs that don’t cause back pain for sitting and working on their desk for long hours. As employees are expected to spend more time on their desks, therefore, their sitting arrangements should also be kept under a close check so that it doesn’t cause any discomfort for them resulting in a decline in work productivity. So make sure all these things are being arranged as per the requirements of the employees. Also, make sure all the electrical equipment such as Air Conditioner, the Coffee machine, etc is working properly ensuring no reason for their lack of concentration.
Limit Multitasking
Sometimes we may think, an employee with multitasking abilities is a special talent to have in the company but in many cases, this might be true for the opposite reason too. Companies tend to believe that being able to multitask increases efficiency. But there are many examples where trying to complete several tasks at once has led people to lose valuable time and productivity.
So concentrating on a single task before you decide to move on to the next one is a great ploy to improve efficiency. Not to mention the commitment of wanting to complete one task at a time has seen great results in terms of increased productivity.
Set Realistic Goals & Deadlines
Sometimes a project manager overestimates the capabilities of their employees without having any clear idea of their working habits. In such situations, the manager tends to assign tasks with a fixed deadline or goal that they are actually incapable of completing in time. So assigning task without knowing whether that employee is a high performer or not often lead to missed deadlines and reduced productivity.
In regards to avoiding such incidents and keeping them on track, set deadlines or goals for the employees that are actually realistic and achievable. As the team leads you should provide clear direction about the project as well as supervise them from a close distance. So that if they get stuck anywhere then they can come to you for clarification. Moreover, always provide deadlines and goals discussing with your employees. Ask them what goal they can achieve in a month or week. Based on that prepare your deadlines and goal for them. This will indeed improve their productivity as they will feel less pressured and can have a clear focus on achieving their goals.
Take a Break From Work After Certain Intervals
Researchers found that most premium performers such as athletes, swimmers, players, entertainers, musicians, etc. are more productive when they took intervals after every 90 minutes of work than the people who worked more than 90 minutes. Moreover, it is also concluded that the most productive person works only around four and a half hours every day. That sounds quite fair if you ask me.
So taking regular breaks in between work improves productivity. Moreover, it is a wise idea to utilize your break period by exercising for some time. Also, if possible keep some time to keep yourself fit during the week as many studies suggested that regular exercise makes you feel active, not to mention it gets your blood pumping which is helpful in clearing your head and maintaining the right focus which eventually helps improve productivity.
Minimize Unnecessary Meetings
Staying tangled with a number of unnecessary meetings is one of the biggest time-killers while working the whole day. It takes away valuable time from the employee’s day when they were trying hard to concentrate on the task at hand. Sometimes a meeting could go around for hours halting the natural working flow of the employees. So as a result of too many meetings being called up leads to hampering in work progress.
It is found in a study conducted by Atlassian that on average, an productive office worker spends more than 31 hours a month in unproductive meetings. This is that time that they could have used to generate some great ideas or make more sales for the company. So minimizing the amount of time spent behind useless meetings each month can improve the productivity of a productive employee to a great deal. Therefore if possible call only the employees to the meeting who actually needs to be in it. Also, check whether if there is any way you can assign similar tasks or goals each month via email, online project management tool, messaging app, etc.
Be Adaptable & Efficient
Especially in small businesses, it is equally essential to make short-term or long-term lists just like it is for prioritizing the tasks in it. As you might need to stay prepared for adapting something that is in the trend quickly. So you need to have the infrastructure to adapt to the modern system as quickly as possible. And in order to operate the business efficiently, you need to have efficient employees who can prioritize their tasks on jobs effectively.
So in order to make the employees more adaptable yet efficient at the time of work, you need to provide proper training about the new system. Moreover to make each member efficient in their job you got to encourage them to prioritize their tasks and make sure they complete them on time and stays all day on their given tasks. Certainly, that will ensure improvements in productivity.
Track and Monitor Task Completion Duration
When you are managing too many employees in too many departments, it becomes highly challenging for the team lead to track and monitor each of the tasks efficiently and accurately. One might think they are quite good at tracking how much time they are spending on each task. But once the task keeps on piling up one after another, then it becomes really difficult to keep track of all those various types of tasks. It becomes even harder when you had to manage several projects at the same time with a wide range of tasks needed to be tracked and monitored.
In such situations, the project manager may use some efficient project management tools like WP Project Manager. The application enables the user to manage and organize each task efficiently. More importantly, it has a number of extended features in the form of Time Tracker, Gantt Chart, Kanban Board which ensures that you are able to keep complete track of your projects and manage daily tasks more efficiently than ever.
Boost Productivity to Uplift Your Growing Business
In conclusion, let’s ask ourselves, did we really understand the importance of being productive already? If not then we must understand it and get it inside our heads that if we are not being productive at our respective tasks or assigned projects then this means we are just simply wasting our valuable time for ourselves and more importantly for the company. And it is something that no business firm would entertain without scrutinizing your daily task management skills.
Say you are getting constantly distracted by social media while writing a simple email then it will probably take 3-4 times more time than usual to get the job done if you don’t focus solely on it.
There is no point in the argument that time is our most valuable asset and so wasting time means you do not value your efforts while doing your job. So eventually being unproductive like that essentially means you do not respect yourself either.
Why Not Improve Productivity With the Right Tool?
In order to improve productivity companies around the world are takes a number of steps nowadays. Sometimes those policy works and sometimes it backfires at them. Moreover, many companies are even using expensive project management tools to overcome their lack of productivity. But nowadays you can improve your productivity even with cost-effective project management tools WP Project Manager.
And you will be delighted to know that for many of the basic tasks you can simply get done with this tool absolutely FREE. And for a number of other added features & functionalities, you can always upgrade to its Pro Version and get its premium extensions.
Last but not least, it can be said that if you want to be productive and you are serious about this then you will realize that being productive means you have more time in your hand to do other things even after completing your daily tasks. Meaning on a given day you have time for your family, kids, projects, and every other thing.
Now in this busy world, getting a day like that is gold and that is the kind of day that we all desire, don’t we?
So how do you prefer to manage your projects to improve the productivity and efficiency of your team? Share your views with us in the comments below.