Singapore
Singapore
It’s easy for a company to claim that their workplace is operating at optimum productivity levels. However, there is a thin line between productivity that is legitimate and productivity that is simulated. How do employers ensure that the latter doesn’t ring true? Of course, it is often easier said than done when we talk about ideas to improve employees’ productivity and efficiency.
The good news is that it is not a lofty ideal to increase the level of productivity of your employees. This goal is achievable – here are 5 effective tips that will give you and/or your employees a head-start in getting the job done faster and smarter!
Many will be surprised by how often this is neglected by organisations. Set deadlines to inject a sense of urgency to each task. This will help you manage the time required to achieve your goals and allow you to effectively plan the next steps you need to take.
If you are working in a team, effective communication is key, especially when it comes to setting project deadlines. According to LinkedIn, 86% of corporate executives, employees, and educators claim that ineffective communication is a big contributing factor to workplace failures.
It is advisable to sit down with your team and set a comfortable deadline for your projects. Once the deadline is set, stick to it. Team members will appreciate being consulted and put in effort to meet these deadlines. It’ll also be useful to check in from time to time to ensure that timelines are on track.
There is no use in setting a time frame if your work is all over the place. The continual emails, documents and workload will create a snowball effect and leave you disorientated. Take a deep breath and organise the mess – slowly and meticulously – into folders and label them. This helps create a sense of accomplishment without any corresponding stress, says Forbes. In turn, it will help you be prepared for other challenging tasks while saving time on nitty-gritty tasks such as retrieving documents and passing files to other team members.
We know how disheartening and overwhelming it feels to have a never-ending task list. The key to tackle this is to prioritise. Segment your list into different categories and colour-code them as such – Red, Orange, and Green. ‘Red’ represents tasks that have to be completed on the same day; ‘Orange’ tasks are to be addressed by the end of the week; and lastly, ‘Green’ is for tasks that are of lower priority, reserved for when you have extra time on hand.
It is recommended that you limit your to-do list to just three key tasks per day. Based on the article by HuffPost, this will help you stay focused and accomplish your goals more quickly.
Employees often underestimate the importance of working as a team. Many try to put everything on their own plates and this inevitably results in a pile-up of work.
Why do people shy away from task delegation? Some of the biggest barriers include reluctance, trust issues and the feeling of independence. However, it’s imperative to recognise the importance of playing to your teammates’ strengths. Ten minutes spent explaining the ropes to a fellow colleague may very well save you an additional hour of time, allowing you extra bandwidth to focus on other things. Delegation isn’t a loss of control, it’s an effective way to get things done faster, together.
One way of self-improvement is to identify and acknowledge the things that are holding you back. Reflect on your usual processes and see if there are any tools available to help you get to the finish line within a shorter duration of time.
If you are prone to distractions, identify those sources and try to reduce, if not eliminate them. Similarly, finding out what helps you focus will also be an impetus for a more productive work life. Simple things like having a cup of coffee in the morning, playing ambient music in the background, ensuring optimal number of sleep hours or simply waking up earlier for some me-time before work may be helpful – you’ll be surprised at how a little change can go a long way!
You can be more productive at work – the trick is simply to find the right balance between efficiency and quality to work faster and smarter.
Follow Canon Singapore on LinkedIn for more business insights!