It’s been a tough year, to say the least. And you may have noticed that your employees (and possibly yourself) are feeling a little lackluster about work. The pandemic was an upheaval in both the work and home space, and that’s a lot for people to manage. So it’s no wonder their productivity may have slowed. This week we’re sharing some simple productivity hacks to share with your team that could help them focus.
Making space
Before any work can efficiently be accomplished, a person’s space needs to be conducive to their working style.
- Eliminate distractions. This means hiding the phone, muting email notifications, closing the office door or working away from people. Distractions account for a large percentage of lost productivity and employees often find they have so much more of a work-life balance if they can just get the work done!
- Get fresh air! While a trip to the communal kitchen is great for getting one’s steps in, the benefit of fresh air is exponentially more influential to a person’s mental and physical health. Encourage your team to head outside for a brisk walk around the block or a moment of gentle breathing on a bench.
- Say no. Employees may be tempted to take on more than they can handle, especially if there were recent hour reductions or furloughs. But employees with too much on their plates are not going to last, nor is work going to be done in any meaningful way. Be realistic with what you task them to accomplish and encourage communication about their responsibilities.
- Prepare for the next day. This is a great way for employees to make the physical and mental space necessary for a successful day. Encourage them to spend a few minutes at the end of each day to set themselves up for the next day’s work. This could mean a little de-cluttering or answering a couple emails.
Organizing space
- Scheduling efficiently. Encourage employees to work on the big tasks when they are the most fired up in a day. Maybe this is in the evening? Be open to flexible schedules.
- Dreading a particular task? Get it out of the way first. Enough said.
- Forget multi-tasking and focus on the task at hand. Let us take this opportunity to encourage all employers to stop emphasizing multi-tasking as some holy grail of productivity. It simply isn’t. Multi-tasking leads to oversight and sloppiness. Instead, promote concentrating on one task and doing it well before heading to the next.
- Can the meeting be an email? Make it an email. Identify when you need to get out of your employee’s way. It’ll make everyone much happier and productive.
Set your employees up for success by providing these helpful tips to use during their work day, rather than simply relying on age-old, empty “inspirational” lectures. You’ll likely find a much more positive response. Remember, being able to identify where adjustments to the workplace are needed is crucial to ensure that they are relevant and useful to both parties. Here is where an experienced HR team like Eos HR can help. We make sure small business teams are successful in maintaining the practices that support a productive company culture. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more.
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