You may feel that everything in your office running pretty smoothly. Work gets done, and your employees seem happy, for the most part. But maybe the work isn’t getting done as quickly or efficiently as it could be. A project might get hung up or meetings tend to run overtime and don’t quite seem to accomplish much. But you can get back on track, and easily. It’s just a matter of knowing what tips to implement and where to start. Top businesses are successful because of their ability to implement these kind of actions. Just look at NuSkin company reviews to see how they encourage their employees in ways that makes them one of the most efficient in the industry. So we’ve collected our top five tips for increasing efficiency in the workplace.
- Limit Interruptions
Oftentimes, it may feel like the best way to get your business back on track is to sit everyone down and discuss, repeatedly, what needs to get done. But more often than not, meetings like this drag on, and don’t end up changing anything. Additionally, you may already have several meetings running throughout the day, staff meeting in the morning, followed by departmental meetings around lunchtime, then lunch breaks, then coffee breaks, then . . . Your employees may feel as if they can hardly sit in their chairs without getting asked to get out of them multiple times a day.
To help limit interruptions, try to have only one day during the week dedicated to meetings, and allow your workers to set dedicated work time where no one can interrupt. If you really want to help your employees, consider creating a “quiet room” where if anyone is in there, you can’t walk in and chat with them. Make it a “no distraction” zone.
- Strengthen Face-to-Face Time
Just like physical interruptions like someone stopping by your desk, there can be other interruptions like constant emails or in-office chats that can cause just as much disruption. Encourage your employees to chat face-to-face, rather than via text. Although this might seem like you’re telling them to interrupt someone, you’d be surprised. Encouraging face-to-face chats can actually force your employees to evaluate whether or not their question is important enough to get up out of their seat to bug another co-worker.
If they do need to talk to someone, a face-to-face chat could quickly clarify an issue or solve a problem that an all-day long communication via email might have never solved.
- Implement Task Management Software
Task management software like Trello, Asana or Basecamp are great ways to keep everyone on track. DOn’t rely on emails or phone calls, or cubicle stop-bys to get a project finished. Task management software can help put all of your communication and work progress into one spot. It can help guarantee that everyone is working on the most up-to-date documents and also keep them on track since everyone on the team can track the progress of the project.
- Accept Feedback
If you’re not sure where to start in making your teams work more efficiently, consider getting feedback not just from your customers, but also from your employees. They can highlight areas where they feel sluggish or lack motivation. Or even highlight spots in the project process where there are hangups you’re not aware of (like something as subtle as the layout of the office). Be willing to analyze negative and positive feedback as it could really help change the atmosphere of the office. Give your employees a safe place to make suggestions and create an even safer place for them to communicate possible ideas to help solve those problems.
- Rethink Your Business Process
A big way to improve efficiency in the workplace is to completely rethink your business processes for your employees. This could be a major change for your business, but it could completely change how your employees work, allowing them to tap the times and places they’re most productive, like home at 8pm at night. Consider switching to a more results-focused work environment. This could allow more employees to work from home or to pick their hours so they work when they’re most motivated and energized.
