Top Tips to Improve Productivity at Workplace

For any organization, small or large, one of the most critical human resource functions is to enhance employee productivity.

The definition of workplace productivity as stated by the Department of Labour is: “Productive workplaces are built on teamwork and a shared vision of where a business is heading. There’s a willingness at all levels to keep learning and investing in skills. In a productive workplace everyone’s role is valued and all staff are encouraged to contribute ideas.”

Mastering the science of increasing productivity is certainly an art. The focus lies on increasing employee output (quality, volume or speed) per each dollar spent on labor costs (or revenue per employee).

The labour productivity in India is much lower than in many other countries. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, it is only 15% of the US productivity.

For team leaders, business owners and human resource managers, boosting productivity and creativity is the one of the most pertinent and pressing predicaments.

Although there is no one-size-fits all solution for achieving optimal productivity levels, working on these four key areas can assuredly help.

1) Provide Support and Guidance to your team

• Positive motivation — As a team leader/manager, one of the pivotal roles is to extend a positive support to your team by motivating them. One can also ensure positive motivation by practicing various psychological theories like the Hawthorne effect which suggests that employees will work harder if they know they’re being observed.
• Individual and team goals — Setting up SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely) goals for your team and encouraging them to create goals for themselves is useful.
• Appropriate inputs — Timely and profitable feedback to your employees goes a long way in supplementing productivity at work. Employees are less likely to become complacent when given regular inputs on their work.

2) Be Replete with Adequate Resources

• Technology, tools, and equipment — Adequate tools and technology are prerequisites for any business activity to function. While certain tools and equipments largely depend on the type of industry concerned, optimal levels of technological upgrade is also important. A range of team management tools like Trello, Basecamp, Google calendar, etc can help get the team together and focus on productivity.
• Incentive programs — Studies reveal that attaching incentives and rewards to performance and goals directly affects productivity in a positive way. Apart from monetary rewards and promotions, businesses are also looking into alternatives like gamification (use of badges, leader-boards or rankings, challenges, and other game elements)  to make the workplace more engaging.

3) Ensure Flexible Working Conditions

• Workplace flexibility —  Traditional working situations breed mediocrity. Flexible working opportunities are increasingly becoming synonymous with higher productivity. Remote job, freelancing and coworking opportunities are enabling employees to choose their place of work.  The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in their Workplace Flexibility Survey[download] notes that about 68% of businesses have opted in for flexible working because of employee requests.
• Working environment —  Your workplace is about people solving problems together and therefore, the milieu inside should encourage free collaboration and experiments. Researches reveal that vibrant interiors, flexible seating arrangements and open office spaces form the touchstones of happy office spaces.

4) Maintain Communication

• Transfer of Information —  For any team to function seamlessly, a regular communication amongst the team members is paramount to ensure everyone is on the same page. Communication fosters not only an understanding of the larger goals, but also exchange of information across departments.
• Regular activity updates — Be it periodic meetings, video/conference calls, or consistent exchange of emails, a methodical system to discuss individual efforts and results is necessary.

Do you have any office productivity tips to add? Let us know in the comments below.