Even if your employees are at work, they may not be working productively. Let’s face it, there are many ways for your team to get distracted, and even the most dedicated employee can get bogged down by answering emails or tracking down a necessary document. Remote and hybrid workplaces have only compounded the problem – not because people are lazy or unmotivated, but because standard and familiar workflows have been disrupted. But there are ways that business owners and managers can help their employees to overcome many of the most common workplace productivity killers and return to efficiency.
Let’s look at some of these issues and how they can be addressed.
6 Enemies of Workplace Productivity
- Failure to Communicate: Miscommunication happens all the time, and the issue is only exacerbated by remote work structures and geographically divided teams. This problem can manifest in many ways – an employee may misunderstand a timeline, their boss may believe his expectations are clear, or a new employee may feel too intimidated to ask for clarification. However, these minor lapses in communication can have far-reaching effects, such as missed deadlines or incorrect work product that needs to be redone. Although meetings are not popular with most workers, they are necessary to keep everyone talking and on track. Managers should also look for tools to allow employees to collaborate easily no matter where they sit. Two-way updates and feedback on work tasks are also essential to preventing these communication gaps from slowing workplace productivity and affecting outcomes.
- Social Media Distractions: Social media may be productivity’s most formidable enemy. Scrolling through social media during work hours significantly reduces productivity, especially because research proves that users tend to grossly underestimate how much time they have been on a social platform. Watching sequential videos or continuously scrolling a newsfeed will quickly consume hours if not moderated. Access to multiple devices makes policing social media usage at work much more difficult. While leaders can install monitoring software on work computers or devices, they have little control over the personal phone in their employee’s pockets. Therefore managers have no choice but to set some steadfast rules in the office, such as putting phones away except for emergencies. But again, this is nearly impossible to enforce when an employee is remote. Minimally, managers may wish to consider setting daily or weekly productivity goals. While a failure to hit goals may not always be associated with social media use, the intent of the “stand up” is to emphasize the importance of achieving outcomes.
- Noise and Activity: Many employees cannot work well if there is too much noise and activity to distract them – but open floor plans and layouts are prevalent in many contemporary offices. Managers should consider quiet spaces for the workers who need more peace and quiet to concentrate, whether they be “no talking zones” or special offices that can be reserved when a deadline is looming. Noise-canceling headphones may also work for some employees. Companies that require employees to work on-site may consider allowing remote work when an employee needs to power through a project or meet an important objective.
- Work Stress and Feeling Overwhelmed: While some people work best under the pressure of a deadline, others do not. Employees are individuals, and everyone handles pressure differently. Managers need to be aware of each employee’s capacity for stress. While feeling overwhelmed is not an excuse for not completing one’s job effectively, the lines of communication should be open to discuss when an individual worker feels buried by their responsibilities. To combat these issues, managers should ensure projects and tasks are structured clearly. Provide tools to ensure that workers can collaborate, find the documents and information they need quickly, and have an avenue to ask for help if needed.
- Poor Sleep Habits: Fatigue is a common productivity killer, but it is another of those elements that managers will have a tough time regulating. Most humans require between 7 and 8 hours of restful sleep per night to function at their best during the day. While team leaders can’t keep an employee from burning the midnight oil, they can create a culture whereby work ends at the close of the day, and workers are not expected to work late hours at home except in extreme circumstances.
- Inability to Find Answers Quickly: Whether an employee is looking for information about their health plan or an internal policy – or needs answers about a necessary work process – countless hours are often wasted in the search for the appropriate solution or document. Not only does the employee waste time looking for what they need, but they also may disrupt the workday of colleagues in their quest. Managers may answer the same question multiple times a week – or spend so much time helping employees locate needed resources that their own productivity plummets. Company leaders should work to establish an intuitive and user-friendly portal that will put all the answers at the fingertips of those who need them quickly and easily. While it may take time and resources upfront to establish, an accessible and comprehensive knowledge guide will rescue your productivity repeatedly.
To Sum it Up
Productivity is affected by many factors. Some of these are associated with employee habits and personalities, while others are the results of the work environment and the tools provided to do their jobs.
Managers can help to improve productivity by facilitating effective communication, providing the knowledge and documentation employees need, and inspiring a culture of feedback.
While various tools exist to achieve these goals, organizations are increasingly looking for a one-stop knowledge and information portal to aggregate all company-critical learning into one tool. The KLONE Organizer is that tool – call today for more information on how your company can consolidate all of your guides, policy manuals, operating playbooks, and SOPs – no matter their format – into one powerful productivity tool.