Boosting productivity is something that every SME should be aiming towards. Whether it’s using the resources you have but doing more with them, or combining multiple programs into one streamlined offering, here are five tips for increasing productivity in your business.
Use an HR Software Program
Small businesses are inundated with tasks, from invoicing and dealing with holiday requests to recruitment. Software such as the options provided by Cezanne HR is a great way of combining multiple tasks into one easy to access program. These types of technology allow team members to be far more productive with their time as the software makes each task more efficient, whether it’s filing documents, allowing team members to be more autonomous with tasks or filtering out candidates for different vacancies without the need to search individually.
Share the Big Picture
Employees can feel unproductive if they don’t feel like what they’re doing is having an impact on the company. So, by sharing the bigger picture with them, they can understand where they fit into the grander scheme and strategy. Managers often find that when they spend time explaining to their team the goals of the business, they are more likely to want to help the business meet those goals and targets. Whether it’s through regular one to ones or weekly meetings as a team, updating your staff on the goals of the business will help them have a better understanding of how they fit into the wider strategy.
Help Your Team Feel Empowered
People can feel unmotivated when they feel they aren’t making a valuable contribution, but in addition to sharing the larger goals of the business, it’s also important to empower them to work independently. Constantly being told what to do while also feeling like you have no real responsibility can leave people feeling uninspired to work harder each day. Managers should notice when they’re being too controlling and loosen the reigns so that individuals in the team can make decisions for themselves and have more control over their work. Implementing this simple change can help to boost the productivity of the team immensely and will help empower your employees.
Keep Communication Open
The difference between successful managers and an average manager is that successful leaders have strong communication skills. More often than not, communication problems in a company stem from the top of the hierarchy down, so it’s a manager’s responsibility to ensure that the lines of communication are kept open. Don’t be afraid of posing questions to your team to get the ball rolling and also to inspire other members of staff to bring up questions themselves. When communication is open and regular, people are more likely to seek clarification on matters that they’re lacking information on. A dip in productivity can often be as simple as employees not fully understanding what’s required of them so improving communication can have a positive impact on productivity as well.
