Vulnerabilities in work culture can be dangerous to the success of any organization. Office productivity is often hampered by employees consuming their valuable time in social media, texting private messages, checking emails or gossiping. What is considered healthy if done moderately, can quickly endanger productivity if it becomes compulsive? It directly impacts the quality of the work thereby affecting the overall business.
If you observe that the productivity of your team is gradually deteriorating, then it needs to be addressed immediately. But impulsively putting on stricter regimes can not only be an immature act but can also affect the morale and efficiency of the team. It will challenge the productivity even more.
The remedy to your problem are these 7 Simple Hacks shown below, which will enhance the productivity of your office significantly.
Office Hacks for Enhanced Productivity
1. Periodic Breaks for Everyone:
In olden times the employees were given periodic breaks of 10 to 15 minutes after a couple of hours of strenuous work. It was compulsory and compulsorily implemented by the manufacturing industries. They observed giving them time to recoil improves their efficiency level. Today the work culture has diluted a lot from its structured form. Employees are permitted to manage their own time and schedules. It is done with the sole objective of being more result oriented.
Unfortunately, due to work pressure, people often skip breaks. Working for a long time can actually have an opposite effect on productivity. DeskTime, a time tracking application, reports that if you take 17 minutes break after working for 52 minutes, the productivity increases by 10%. Breaks help in recharging the employees. In fact, working at a stretch slowers the process.
2. Get Rid of the Clutter:
If you enter any office afternoon you will see the office desks scattered with papers, files, gadgets, knickknacks and what not. But, you can get easily drained by such distractions. Every time a phone rings, message notification pop, reminders beep or you look at dozens of to-do sticky notes clumsily attached to the boards, the distractions slow you down. Later, you get stressed out by these time wasters.
Clutter creates distractions and often drain your energy. If you work in a decluttered spic and span environment, you will be much better at focusing and will crank out your tasks faster. If you encourage a clutter-free workspace, your employees will perform their tasks at peace and it will do a world of good to the business.
3. Let Everyone Design their Work Schedule:
Every employee has his own style of functioning. Some need a quiet corner while some prefer to be in the midst of the action. One may need a specific space or a time of work different than the other. Every need is different and you should not discourage it.
In this day and age, with faster communication communicating devices around teams work together in cohesion even though they are placed at distant locations and different time zones. So you should be open to defining their work schedules as long as the deliverables are not compromised.
If the team delivers within time and achieve the quality, you shouldn’t be acting as a deterrent in their designed environment.
4. Clearly Define your Managerial Workflow:
The workers who have no clarity in their work can severely damage the productivity of the workflow. You’re not setting the process lines for a proper workflow structure, things will not be under control and employees will easily lose track of where they stand in the workflow.
Hence, set a workflow, define the chain of events and identify and the right people who can command. Define their job responsibilities and make sure it doesn’t coincide with another manager. A set workflow will save you from chaotic situations.
5. Appreciate Success Stories:
The fact is if you slog for long hours in an important project, the job may give you satisfaction but at the end of the day, you will feel exhausted. Whether the team is planning a marketing campaign or it is a development of a new product under a deadline, it is tough to keep your enthusiasm and focus consistently till the end.
So the best way to energize your team is to appreciate each other in their processes of development and keep your team updated on the successes at every step. It helps in energizing the team and boosting their morale. If you keep on updating them at periodic intervals about the achievements in the process timelines, they feel committed to complete it under the scheduled time.
6. Too Many Meetings Spoil The Day:
Meetings are important but you must have often observed that employees get bored if there are too many of them. Meetings kill productive time and in fact not every plan of action or review needs a meeting. You can avoid inconsequential meetings by just emailing or doing a quick video conferencing which should not last more than 10 minutes.
If the meeting is truly necessary, you have to hold it with a clear purpose behind it. Make it a Priority to not exceed the meeting beyond 30 minutes unless it is unavoidable. Or, mention the estimated duration prior to the meet.
Chalk out your agenda of the meeting beforehand and make sure you don’t deviate from the topics. Pick only those people who are relevant to the meeting. Fewer distractions will better the efficiency of the team.
7. Provide a Healthy Work Environment:
Promote healthy wellbeing and encourage physical activity among your employees to keep them fit and happy. Discourage them to consume too much coffee, sugar rushes and irregular snacking. Instead, encourage fresh fruits and liquids keep them hydrated throughout the day.
Employees tend to slouch on their chairs during stressful desk jobs. Provide standing desks instead as an alternative ergonomic option. You can have gaming zones where workers can indulge in physical games. These breaks refresh them from their strenuous ordeals, Healthy employees are much more productive than the stressed out ones.
Final Words:
For an organization smarter productivity is their key to success. Undertaking these smart hacks can amplify your office productivity manifolds. It will not only we keep the employees’ morale high but also deliver quality under their smartly designed work environment.
So go and encourage your team to take periodic breaks, tidy up their workplace, design their schedule, hold meetings with a definite agenda and always be happy and feel motivated at every successful step.
