The office is a sensitive ecosystem that needs to be managed appropriately. The environment can easily turn toxic during times of stress if this is tolerated. The main objective of management is to drive productivity without impacting morale negatively. Finding this balance means there will be times where employees are pushed too hard or not hard enough. Productivity is a combination of environment, systems in place, and leadership. The ability to adapt to new trends in an industry can allow a smaller company to thrive while others struggle to make last-second changed. The following are tips to drive productivity in the office without decimating morale.
Reward Productive Employees With Work From Home Days
Being able to work from home a few days a week is the ultimate perk that numerous people name. Working permanently from home has been something adopted by companies that saw increased productivity when their offices went remote. The fact that the talent pool for businesses expands when allowing employees to work remotely is an added benefit. Sustained high levels of productivity need to be studied as an employee could have acquired quite a few tricks of the trade. You can even reduce costs by getting a smaller office if the bulk of your workforce works remotely. Saving on rent and office equipment is important.
Drop Those Pointless Meetings
There are so many meetings in some offices that could easily be handled by a single email. Take a look at how many meetings are truly required to check the status of a project. There are so many project management platforms that everyone can stay updated on every part of a project. Virtual meetings have become far more popular which can be a good idea to do daily for a few minutes so the team can interact. Staying on point during meetings is also imperative as there should be an agenda.
Ask Employees How There Jobs Can Be Made Easier
Employees are extremely valuable when it comes to ideas that would make them more productive. Automation of certain processes in a sales process is a perfect example. A salesperson can rest assured that paperwork will be accessible by the finance department. Auto populating data across file types is a great example of something that would have to be manually transcribed/typed otherwise. There could be a tool that one productive employee uses and pays for themselves. Getting this software/technology for the entire staff can drive productivity without pushing too hard.
Time Tracking Software
Employees will be able to set an agenda far better if they understand exactly how long a task will take them. This can help set reasonable goals for a week that are based on data rather than what sounds impressive. Training can be established by modeling off of top performers and how they allocate time. People do work at different rates depending on what is being done. Do not reprimand decent performers as they simply might not work as quickly as others.
Driving productivity will take a combination of motivating employees individually and creating an environment of hard work. Take the time to invest in employees to truly understand what motivates each person.