Productivity in the workplace can be bane of the modern business. Enforcing it can be even trickier. So, what methods can business leaders use to encourage people to work harder or faster without getting burnt out? The place to start would be the environment that the people work in and assess each aspect of your workforce to find where minor tweaks can be made. Or, in some cases, making major overhauls can be the answer. Let’s have a look at some methods to increase productivity for your workforce.
The Two Minute Rule
This technique was devised on the idea that the vast majority of tasks are not difficult, and can take less than two minutes to complete. The idea is that every goal can be started in two minutes or less, and if a task is started, such as checking your emails. Then it can snowball into checking all of your unread emails. The two minute rule works for bigger goals as well as the smaller ones. But in terms of productivity in the office, it helps get the smaller tasks out of the way.
Build Up Employee Rapport
This one may be one of the most important things you can do for your company. A faceless environment where everyone gets their head down is all well and good, but does that breed any sort of team ethic? Nobody will feel that they are “in it together” and will only fend for themselves. Encourage more team based activities. For example weekends away, or something as simple as having a social drink around the corner from the office. Rapport amongst colleagues will make for a more relaxed working atmosphere.
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Change The Office Space
From giving the office a new look, to installing new furniture, there are ways to help the workforce by making their environment more comfortable. Installing chairs that have that bit more support or stand up desks have shown to shave that bit more time off completing a task. There are specialist office furniture websites like Turnco offices where you can see what is suitable for your office area. If you have the luxury of space, installing a chillout area or somewhere where your employees can take their mind off their work for 15 minutes will do wonders for their productivity. Even installing games systems have shown to increase workplace productivity.
Pomodoro Technique
Another time management technique. This one was developed in the late 1980’s by Francesco Cirillo. The theory behind this technique is that regular breaks can increase mental agility. There are six steps in this technique:
- Decide on the task that needs to be done.
- Set a timer (either for 20 or 25 minutes).
- Work on the task until the timer rings. The trick is to just do that task and focus on nothing else. If you get distracted by a thought, write it down and get back to the task.
- After the timer rings, write a check on a piece of paper.
- If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (from 3 to 5 minutes), then go back to step 1.
- After four “pomodoros”, take a longer break (15 to 30 minutes), reset your check count to zero, then go back to step 1.
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