It's common for employees to have that day when completing their tasks seems out of reach. With the temptation of social media, games, the internet in general, as well as the constant bustle of people in the office, it's easy to have interruptions and distractions during the day. Regardless of work, routines and tasks, having productivity at work is achieving effective results in the shortest possible time, in other words, working smarter. Completing more tasks or working longer hours doesn't necessarily mean that the employee is being more productive, it just means that the person is busier. Productivity means optimizing workflows, reducing the chances of interruptions and refining processes.
As a manager, it's important to observe employee engagement and how it affects the team. If productivity is low and some people seem to be underperforming, it could be a lack of commitment, collaboration problems or inefficient job processes. A company cannot be productive without its employees being able to do their jobs efficiently. Promoting the productivity of each professional is an essential part of boosting results. An employee who feels personally productive often also experiences more happiness and fulfillment at work.
Benefits of productivity at work
Productivity can help professionals set healthy boundaries at work and feel more in control. Some people may even enjoy their work more when they are productive, feeling far less stressed about each deliverable. An engaged workforce will work harder, faster and with much more enthusiasm.
Another benefit of productivity is retaining talented individuals in the team. When a person joins the company, they have expectations and desires; when management fails to provide these, they start looking for better options in other companies. Therefore, involving employees also helps to reduce the cost of turnover and improves retention.
Traditionally, productivity is associated with performance. Understanding what motivates employees and developing culture within the company can boost productivity, performance and results.
How to measure productivity
To measure productivity, it's not necessary to promise new incentives, give luxurious prizes or commissions. We've listed some practical and effective ways of generating greater team productivity:
- Setting goals: Helps employees define and achieve their objectives and is an essential part of the role. Setting targets is also important as a mechanism for providing feedback. One way to measure productivity is to set goals at the beginning of each quarter and monitor progress. If they are team goals, you can review them at weekly team meetings. On theother hand, you can also use individual meetings to create a development plan and guide each individual in their professional development;
- Measuring the quality of work: Sending more emails, fixing mistakes or making more calls may seem like good measures of productivity. However, sometimes it's more important to focus on quality than volume. When analyzing productivity, consider the quality of the work done;
- Measuring the amount of work completed: Last but not least, you can measure productivity by looking at the number of tasks completed in a specific period of time.
Improving productivity
The most important element of a company is its people. After all, productive employees are what make a company engaged in the first place. We've listed 13 items aimed at measuring, calculating and, most importantly, improving productivity at work.
- Set daily goals
By understanding what objectives need to be achieved every day, you can list a number of activities or goals. By using a list, you can keep employees on track and motivated, as they will be able to do one thing at a time, rather than being overwhelmed by a pile of tasks.
- Do the hardest thing first
Doing the hardest task first is a way of sticking to the routine and disconnecting from all distractions. This means avoiding checking email, phone or social media until the most difficult task of the day has been completed. By doing this you can set a more positive tone for the day, having tackled the most complex activity first.
- Review the week every Friday
Identify which activities have not been carried out during the week and list them in order of priority for next week, so it will be easier to concentrate on items that are overdue.
- Identify the most productive time of day
Everyone has a certain time of day when they tend to get an extra burst of focus and creativity. For some people, this moment comes in the morning. For others, it may come after lunch or even in the evening. Organize your routine to take advantage of this time.
- Start with just 5 minutes
Procrastination is the enemy of productivity. Committing to doing five minutes of everything you've been putting off is the key to starting any activity. At the end of the five minutes, the activity is done and you can finish everything.
- Understand your priorities
Instead of feeling overwhelmed and not having enough time to do everything, it's important to identify the main priorities and focus on them. The other things can wait.
- Set limits
To reduce unnecessary interruptions and distractions, setting limits and communicating them effectively will help manage expectations and get the schedule back on track.
- Isolate yourself from distractions
Turn everything off whenever possible and concentrate on a single task without interruption. Distractions don't usually require immediate attention, but when they occur at a time of intense focus, they can seriously hinder you.
- Don't waste time on emails
It's an effective communication tool in the workplace, but eliminating unimportant email not only saves time, but also ensures that the recipient reads the entire email and recognizes the main conclusions. Responding to emails quickly can also avoid the stress of a full inbox, which is disorganized and difficult to sort through. Select a time of day to organize your emails.
- Resting the mind
When we take time out to recharge, we are more effective. Overwork can really hinder performance and lead to mental exhaustion. Take time out to distract yourself, increase cognitive performance and ultimately improve effectiveness.
- Plan for tomorrow
Planning the night before can help you start the day with your priorities and expectations under control.
- Create a routine
Separate each day of the week with a different theme and assign the related tasks to a time slot within those days. This really allows each topic to be seen, without being distracted by what is not directly related.
- Automate manual tasks
Automating manual tasks is one of the best ways to increase productivity, scale impact and stay focused on work. Automation is a sure-fire way to save time, so that employees can concentrate on other, more valuable tasks.
In addition to these items, learn the difference between productivity and efficiency. Keep in mind that efficiency is doing the same with less, while productivity is doing more with the same. In this way, increasing productivity is important for the team to achieve its goals and the company achieves greater results.
