Five strategies for increasing productivity within your business

One of the key measures of your business’s success is productivity. If work isn’t getting done in an efficient, timely manner then this can impact negatively on your future growth and profit.

It’s hard to avoid at least some loss of productivity throughout the day, we’re all only human after all. But it’s still important to consider how best to go about maximizing what your workforce can achieve within the time they have, whether it’s through improved business practices or automation, such as accounts payable software.

With that in mind, consider these five strategies that could help to increase productivity across your business.

1. Increase workforce engagement

A team who aren’t enjoying their work aren’t likely to be as productive as the ones who are.

Nobody likes doing the more boring tasks, even though they are usually pretty important when it comes to keeping the business ticking over. While you probably can’t make it so that your employees enjoy every single aspect of their day-to-day work, that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to keep them engaged.

Do what you can to make sure that people are happy in their roles, and try to ensure that they have a variety of tasks to do so that they can get away from some of the more routine ones that tend to drain their enthusiasm.

2. Limit time-waste

Did you know that it takes roughly 15 minutes for people to become productive again after an interruption? Naturally, this means that for your business to maximize its productivity it needs to minimize the potential interruptions to staff’s workflows.

Of course, you can’t cut out meetings entirely. They’re still a key part of keeping your teams engaged and informed of what’s going on within the business. But what you can do is ensure that any meetings or calls you are having are an effective use of time.

Could the information be better conveyed in an email? Have you already had multiple meetings this week? Think hard before you book another one and limit the disruptions in your team’s days.

3. Adopt automation

A lot of time gets used up on menial tasks such as admin and data entry. They need to be done, but they are usually incredibly time-consuming, taking focus away from tasks that add greater value to the business.

By adopting digital tools that are designed to simplify workflows and take some of the weight off the shoulders of your team, you can easily boost productivity across the board.

From accounts payable (AP) automation to customer relationship management (CRM) software, there are many tools that your teams can draw on to save valuable time by letting the software handle simple and repetitive processes instead.

4. Reduce office distractions

Much like interruptions, distractions contribute significantly to time lost over the course of the day. They may only be little moments of lost focus, but these all add up.

You may not be able to completely soundproof the office, but give people a proper space to take their conversations away from the desks of their busy colleagues. Utilizing desk dividers and adding plants around the office can help to reduce general noise pollution, as well as putting noisier machines away from people’s desks.

5. Offer flexibility

In recent years we’ve all seen the increasing shift towards flexible working and you can’t argue that it hasn’t had results. Being able to shift things up from the standard 9-5 clearly has its benefits, not least when it comes to productivity.

Some people work better at different times of the day and letting them cater their schedule around that can make sure that they’re doing their work at their most productive times, rather than struggling in a lull.

Cutting down on commuting time by allowing people to work from home is also likely to result in a more energized staff, allowing them to put the energy they’d lose in traffic into their work instead.

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Beyond just productivity gains, adopting some of these strategies could increase the general happiness and satisfaction of your workforce. And a happy team only means good things for your business.