While modern wonders like smartphones which offer constant internet access and emails which make communicating easier, efficiently completing your work should be a breeze. Yet managers and entry-level employees alike still often face mountains of paperwork and have little time to relax and unwind.
How exactly can managers help their employees, and themselves, get more done at work? What are the common mistakes businesses make when trying to optimize their operations, and how can they be avoided? In a world where you can’t seem to disconnect from the office, is finishing your day by the afternoon or evening really even possible?
Getting the most out of your time
Getting more done at more means you’ll need to take steps to ensure you’re using your time both in the office and at home efficiently. One of the smallest steps that’s often overlooked when managers try to boost productivity is the importance of good, consistent scheduling.
A daily to-do list is a popular way of planning out your day, but taking time to schedule your day – or, better yet, your entire week – the night before is an even greater way to keep your workload under control. Proper schedules should be flexible to allow for any unforeseen circumstances, but having a game plan for your week ahead of time ensures you won’t be caught off guard and keeps you working efficiently.
An office that’s running smoothly on a schedule sees less procrastination, and sticking to your deadlines (and, importantly, letting people head home when the day’s work is finished, rather than keeping them for an extra few hours) will help raise office morale.
Appropriate steps must be taken to ensure your schedules don’t do more harm than good, too, however. Posting schedules in advance and soliciting employee feedback are great ways to ensure your company’s schedule works for managers and workers alike, and can help avoid a frustrating schedule that doesn’t work for anyone.
WorkLife Law’s report on improving productivity in the workplace heavily emphasizes the benefits of proper scheduling, and points out some common mistakes made by managers when designing schedules. Relying on primitive, older methods, for instance, can hurt more than it helps; companies should strive to exploit the wonders of modern technology to keep workers and managers connected, so that employees always have clear lines of communication.
A human-focused approach
Getting the most out of your employees necessitates an understanding that they’re only human. Managers shouldn’t expect workers to tolerate conditions they themselves would find unworkable, and should strive to create a positive environment that makes work more enjoyable, and thus more productive.
A human-focused approach to increasing workplace productivity includes business practices which emphasize the value of your company’s human capital and relieas on global resources to achieve them. Employee transitional training, for instance, in which your retiring or departing employees help train their employees while introducing them to the office environment, helps to build bonds between the members of your team.
Employers should understand that they have a responsibility to help their workers create and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Employees who have ample time to get rested and unwind after bouts of hard labor are more likely to return to work the next day, and will be more efficient than their counterparts who have been getting ground down by too much paperwork.
Optimizing the relationships between business-owners and employees is one area where large companies would be wise to learn from small businesses. Small business employers are more likely than their larger-counterparts to offer flexible starting and quitting times for employees, and offer greater opportunities to work from home.
Critically, small businesses also recognize the importance of holidays, vacation times, and worker’s health. Creating a system to allow your employees to gradually return to work after big life events, such as childbirth, helps retain valuable employees. Extended, paid parental leave has actually proven to be a boon for businesses, keeping employees happy and healthy and bettering their performance when they eventually come back to work.
Larger firms aren’t entirely without their options, either; managers dealing with large swaths of employees often find it beneficial to break their workers down into smaller teams, which increases effectiveness and allows for a more equal distribution of task.
Fostering a healthy workplace that sees employees as valuable, human assets to a firm rather than as mere worker-drones will do wonders for a business’ efficiency. Policies which empower employees to work at times that are best for them, and initiatives which aim to harness the innovative ideas of your workers, too, will help your company’s bottom line.
Ultimately, getting more done at work often means realizing when it’s time to stop, step back, and finish the job for the day. Hard, successfully completed work in the office place should be rewarded, and time should be made for rest. By following these tips, your office will be more productive in no time.