There are various things you will need to manage as a business owner, and one of those things is maintaining good levels of productivity throughout the company. It can be difficult to keep staff motivated at times, especially during busy or stressful periods, but it’s important that as the business owner or the manager of a team that you do this. If you’re worried about productivity in your office, here are some tips to help you improve it.
Incentives
A good place to start if you want to see more productivity from your employees is giving them something to keep them motivated. You should always let them know how much you value them, you can do this by sending an email thanking them for a job well done, or by bringing some nice foodie treats into the office on Fridays, for example. This will help to keep morale up, but if you want them to work that little bit harder, offer them more incentives to do so. Turn things into a healthy competition, such as the first team member to hit their monthly targets gets gift vouchers or a spa day.
Outsource
Some tasks need to be completed in-house, but you could increase productivity by outsourcing some of the work to freelancers or external agencies. For example, having content written for your digital marketing strategy to boost your SEO could be outsourced to a marketing agency that specializes in this, simply search marketing agency online to see what’s on offer. Or perhaps you need to increase your customer support? You can also find services to outsource this too. Whatever the reason you’re outsourcing work, it will still help to relieve pressure from your in-house team, and as a result, increase their productivity.
Evaluate Goals
If you’re wondering why your teams are struggling to meet their targets each month or becoming strained under their workload, consider evaluating the goals you have set for them. While you will have a vision of where you want the business to be by a certain time, setting improbable goals will only lead to disappointment and resentment in the office. It’s a good thing to challenge your team, but pushing them too hard to meet unrealistic expectations is not how you create a positive working environment or boost productivity.
Ask for Feedback
Asking your team for feedback on how they feel things can be improved is another useful tip. Sometimes it’s easy to get tunnel vision, especially if you’re removed from certain tasks and are out of touch with how to work on them. Listen to the employees who are doing the job and what they think could be done to make their workday more practical and productive. It could be a suggestion to update computer software, or increase the size of the team, or even creating a better workspace by redecorating. Take their thoughts into consideration to help them feel more motivated and reduce their stress at work.
Training
Finally, consider whether or not your staff or you need any additional training to improve their performance. It’s always good to take refresher courses once in a while, but further learning can help people improve their skill set and feel more confident in their job roles, which in turn can help boost productivity. If you want to keep your staff happy, motivated, and productive, use the tips above and see how they can improve results in your business.
