10 Ways To Make Your Company More Productive

Productivity is all about managing time in a more effective way so that more work gets done. Here are just 10 ways of improving your productivity.
Take courses to learn shortcuts
Taking a course in management or administration could help you learn new ways of managing your time more effectively. Workshops run by fellow business owners can be great places to pick up tips. Alternatively, you may wish to take a more official course. Make sure to ask questions on concerns you may have in relation to productivity.
Outsource your company’s weaknesses
Tasks such as accounting, marketing and HR might not be your speciality. Outsourcing these tasks by hiring another company to take care of them could free up valuable time to focus on the core duties of your job, making your company more productive. This may also include time-consuming and menial jobs such as cleaning or maintenance. There are even companies that will take calls for you or filter emails for you. When outsourcing, make sure that you do your research to ensure that you hire a credible company. Read reviews and testimonials to get an idea of how good a company is.
Speed up your business with technology
Using the right technology could also help to improve your business’s productivity. There could be gadgets you could be using instead of manually performing tasks. Meanwhile, there may be software out there that can automate admin tasks or help organise information more effectively. An IT consultancy company might be able to help find the best software solutions for you. Certain companies specialise in small business IT support. Try reading business tech blogs too and reviews of gadgets and software for further advice.
Hire the right employees
Recruiting the right employees can also have an impact on your productivity. Your employees need to be reliable and focused. Make sure that you have a thorough hiring process in place, giving yourself enough time to check as many CVs and interview as many applicants as possible. The quality of your job ad can affect the quality of candidates you get, so make sure that your advertisement explains exactly what you’re looking for, whilst not being so demanding that it puts off applicants. On top of an interview, consider a trial shift or trial period for assessing whether someone is right for the role – some people can act their way through interviews, whilst a trial period is harder to blag your way through.
Provide thorough training
All new employees need training in order to understand the company they’re working for. Some employees may have lots of experience behind them, but your company is still likely to have different ways of organising things and different expectations. You yourself may not have time to train up employees, however someone in your office should be able to provide the training needed. More companies are now using digital training guides as a supplement – whilst these shouldn’t be a substitute for in-person training, they could help new employees to learn some skills independently, allowing the rest of your team to focus on their job.
Create a motivating work environment
You need to ensure that your work environment inspires people to work productively. Too many distractions could prevent people from working effectively. Make sure that the workplace is comfortable – provide ergonomic chairs that are comfy to sit in and control the office temperature so that it’s neither too hot nor too cold. It could be worth letting people listen to music to help provide some stimulation, but you probably don’t want to provide a TV that could take up too much of people’s attention. Try to keep a connection with the outside world by adding plants to the office and keep the place decluttered so that important items can be found easily. You may also want to think about the layout. An open-plan arrangement can help to improve the flow of communication between team members, which might be beneficial in a job that requires constant social interaction. However, in jobs that require more concentration, an open-plan layout could have the reverse effect and be too distracting.
Set goals and provide incentives
Goals and incentives can help to spur you and your employees on to work harder. You could set goals for individual employees to achieve or you could set team goals for everyone to work towards. These goals need to be reinforced by rewards such as a monetary bonus or paid time off or the chance of promotion. Make sure to not move the goalposts and to keep to your word.
You can also provide other incentives to help spur people on to work harder. Some people are more motivated by positive feedback. Some people may only need a good brew of coffee to encourage them. Keeping a sense of variety can often help in most jobs – someone who is constantly having to carry out the same routines over and over again may grow disillusioned. That said, others may thrive doing the same thing day in day out.
Keep everyone on the same page
Making sure that everyone is aware of each other’s progress is also important for encouraging productivity. Make sure that you’re holding regular team meetings so that everyone can discuss where they’re up to. You might also be able to use software to help people record their progress in real time – you could allow this progress to be accessed by everyone so that everyone is one the same page. This will prevent people from getting their wires crossed and completing the wrong tasks. Simply encouraging communication may be enough to prevent many time-consuming mistakes from taking place.
Don’t micromanage
Constantly checking up on what your employees are doing and giving input on every small detail will slow down productivity. Your employees will be working at a slower rate because they’ll be constantly getting interruptions from you. You meanwhile will also be getting less done because you’ll be constantly preoccupied with what your employees are doing. Try to take a more laid-back approach – check in what everyone is up to each morning and then let people get on with their jobs. Your employees will feel more empowered, which could help to motivate them further to work more effectively.
Take more breaks to recharge your batteries
Having a break is important as it allows you to clear your mind and reassess what’s important. Breaks can help to make people more productive as a result by keeping energy and concentration levels up. This includes not only breaks throughout the day, but also holiday breaks. Of course, you don’t want to be letting people take too much time away from the desk. However, if people aren’t taking breaks and are clearly underperforming, it could be worth advising them to take some time off.
When running a business, it can often be harder to take time off, but you too need your breaks. Make sure that you’re getting a good work/life balance and not working every day. Hire an assistant manager who can take the reins whilst you’re away.