Working at a company with over 1,000 employees is very different from one that has 5 or even 10 people. When you’re watching to make sure that the entire business is running without issue, you often become distracted and unfocused on what’s truly important.
This rings even truer when your company is small, where all of your employees are family members who’ve known each other since high school.
Trying to address every concern becomes an exhausting task because there are so many things to take care of at once. Often, one or two key people will be able to handle the bulk of the workload while everyone else drifts along unproductively. Not only can this cause relationships between employees to strain, but it can also lead to mistakes within the workplace that could have otherwise been avoided.
The best way to remedy this situation is for the boss to take on some of the “less important” work so that employees can focus more on their major responsibilities. Even if you’re not directly in charge of everything, getting involved with what your employees are doing will go a long way in increasing productivity levels.
Here Are The Seven Main Issues That Leaders Need To Attend To In Order To Help Their Employees Become More Productive:
1. Problem Resolution
One of the most common reasons why someone may feel unproductive is when they deal with problems all day long without being able to resolve them. Whether it’s working on a project or simply placing phone calls back-and-forth with clients, nothing drains energy like having too much on your plate.
It’s important to make sure that employees are not only aware of any issues arising but also know what they need to do in order to fix them. If someone is caught off-guard without a solution or next step, it can lead them to spend hours on Google trying to find the answer instead of actually doing their work. Telling an employee who’s having problems what needs to be done and how to go about doing it will help them get back into the swing of things while remaining productive throughout the process.
2. Avoiding Distractions
Unless you’re Mother Theresa, no one likes dealing with distractions all day long. Every time a customer calls in with a question or a coworker stops by your desk, it takes away from time you could be spending on other projects. A simple way to reduce these distractions is to tell people exactly when they should come and talk with you.
As a business owner or lead worker, it’s your job to make sure that people know what needs to get done without having them constantly stopping by. For example, if you let everyone know that phone calls need to go directly through the receptionist, and if someone needs anything from you, they should email you, then your employees will have less of an excuse for entering your office every 10 minutes.
3. Accountability
Since most people don’t like being told what to do all day, it can breed a lack of accountability amongst co-workers. This leads to one person doing all of the work and the others sitting back and relaxing while still receiving a paycheck.
You won’t be able to tell people what to do all day, but when you do speak, it should be with authority. For example, if you’re constantly asking your employees what they’ve done or haven’t done, then they’ll know that there’s no reason for them to even attempt doing anything because nothing will get done.
However, if you simply ask them once in a while for updates on where they are within their tasks and explain what steps need to take place next time around, then your office will run much smoother than before.
4. Celebrate Achievements
When good work is done, let everyone know with employee recognition software. Don’t do this out of an obligation but rather because it’s necessary for continued motivation and employee productivity. In addition, sharing good work with the rest of the office ensures that other workers will strive to meet similar standards.
5. Work Environment
As the head of the company, it’s your job to make sure that everyone is comfortable enough to work efficiently. If your employees are sitting in an office that is cluttered with papers, overflowing out of boxes, and where people can hear all of their conversations, then you’re setting them up for failure.
If there’s no privacy amongst workers, it makes it much harder to stay productive. The last thing anyone wants to do is put their best foot forward while knowing that everyone around them has no idea what they’re doing nor the ability to keep what should be confidential between themselves.
Once again, if people are able to get their work done without having to worry about others looking over their shoulder every other minute, then you’ll see a considerable boost in productivity immediately after.
6. Trust
The number one factor in helping your employees increase productivity while at work is trust. Trusting your employees with tasks that need to be done and allowing them to finish those projects on their own allows them to work at their own pace, make mistakes without having you constantly breathing down their necks, and gives them the ability to learn new techniques on their own.
If people are constantly getting yelled at for making mistakes or constantly needing supervision, they’ll become more worried about not doing anything wrong rather than increasing productivity. As long as they know that no one will be disappointed in what they’ve done, then there’s more of a reason for them to excel within their position.
7. Encourage Breaks
When you’re working hard for something or trying to get a job done, taking breaks can help refresh your mind and thinking process. There are many ways to take breaks – you can take a 5-minute break every hour, or you can even try taking 20 minutes out for yourself once or twice a day.
