85% of business leaders say hybrid work makes them less confident that employees are productive.
Seeking ways to enhance productivity for your small business employees? In a world full of distractions, it’s crucial to help them prioritize their most important tasks.
Here are three practical tips to accomplish that:
1. Set clear, specific, and achievable goals
81% of employees want managers to help them prioritize workloads. Only 31% say leaders have given clear guidance.
Employees reach their goals more quickly when they work towards a common vision and purpose. Clear objectives allow progress to be shared and measured easily, with the flexibility to adjust if necessary. Regularly reviewing and adapting goals helps businesses respond effectively to shifts in customer and business requirements.
Here are several strategies to optimize goal-setting for your business:
Ensure your goals adhere to the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These standards provide a solid foundation for practical and actionable ideas.
Engage your team in the goal-setting process: Involving your staff in goal-setting gives them a vested interest in achieving those goals. Collaboration also generates fresh and valuable insights.
Establish short-term and long-term goals: Short-term goals boost team motivation with quick wins, while long-term goals set the strategic course and facilitate significant achievements.
2. Eliminate distractions
23 minutes – the average time it takes for a worker to become refocused after a distraction.
Focus helps employees complete challenging work, think creatively, and generate innovative ideas.
Studies indicate that incorporating breaks between tasks and meetings can alleviate stress and maintaining a healthy work-life balance can help prevent burnout.
Introduce time-management strategies: Teach your team effective time-management techniques, such as the Pomodoro Technique: work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. After four work sessions, take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes.
Utilize technology to minimize distractions: Empower employees to use settings and software to minimize distractions while working. For instance, they can employ apps to manage social media platforms or activate a "do not disturb" mode on their phones to mute specific notifications during work hours.
Promote and exemplify a balanced work-life approach: By establishing clear boundaries between work and personal time, employees gain opportunities to recharge, enhancing productivity during work hours.
3. Stay organized
Efficiency is the top benefit small and medium-sized businesses expect from technology over the next 2-3 years.
If you rely on traditional paper or local digital storage methods, organizing information can be challenging, hindering collaboration and creativity. Cloud technology offers a solution by centralizing information and enhancing teamwork.
Here are several ways it can be beneficial:
Centralize all information: Modern cloud storage consolidates data in one accessible location, ensuring employees can easily locate necessary information while maintaining security and backups.
Collaborate on shared notes: Utilizing a cloud-connected notetaking application like Microsoft OneNote allows everyone to collaborate in one place, facilitating idea sharing and information capture.
Work collaboratively on documents: Rather than exchanging document versions via email, encourage employees to collaborate on the same cloud-stored document. Automated version control tracks edits efficiently.
Real productivity hinges on accomplishment, not mere busyness. Setting clear organizational goals, maintaining organization, and minimizing distractions empower each employee to make significant contributions to your business's success.