Remaining productive at the workplace is the ultimate goal any organization has regarding employee management. There are proven ways in which an employee can increase their work productivity. These options get categorized as putting up extra hours at their work or ultimately working smarter.
Being a productive employee is not rocket science as it requires deliberate efforts on time management while at the workplace. As Alexander Djerassi states, being an effective employee is very critical to any organization. Below are some of the proven methods of increasing productivity at workplaces any employee or organization can exploit to their advantage.
1. Limit and Track Time Spent on Each Task
One area where most persons fail in their productivity is failing to account for the much time they spend accomplishing a specific task. On average, out of a sample size of 100, only 17 employees could accurately track their time while performing a particular task. Specific tools have been designed, organizations and employees can use them to help them in time management when it comes to functions. These tools can allocate time to a task and notify you of the time spent on a job.
2. Taking Break Intervals Regularly
To some, such a suggestion as taking break intervals often sounds counterproductive. Still, professional experts like Alexander Djerassi have outlined the benefits of having a workforce capable of concentrating on a task. Breaks have been proven to increase performance levels while operating in an environment where there is no time for a break, performance heads in a decline position.
3. Setting Own Self-Imposed Task Completion Deadlines
Professional psychologists and human resource experts have proved that some stress levels at workplaces improve work productivity and performance as a whole. As some may take it negatively, but self-imposed stress isn’t a bad thing either. Having clear targets and goals allows one to remain focused, and in the end, they can meet their daily goals. Sticking to a deadline requires a lot of discipline, but you will be surprised at the level of increased productivity you have clocked at the end of the day.
4. Avoid Unnecessary Meetings
In any corporate organization, if there is one area where time gets properly wasted is around meetings. Where possible, try and avoid unnecessary meetings as they have been proved to be the most fantastic time suckers. Based on research conducted by Atlassian, an average organization loses approximately 31 hours of its productive time in unnecessary meetings each month. Where necessary, it is essential to leverage what technology has to offer. Conducting meetings on the phone or other platforms will save the organization and the employee a significant amount of productive time that would have otherwise get lost in boardrooms. Similarly, accomplishing tasks through emails will add to your bucket some amount of effective time that would have otherwise got lost in unnecessary meetups.
Where absolutely necessary that a meeting has to take place, prioritize holding a standing meeting. Such a meeting has shown to increase group arousal, improve overall performance and finally decrease territoriality among employees.