The most important element of a company is its employees, you want to make them feel comfortable, but also you want to make the workplace as productive as you can. Productive workers are those that make a company successful. For many employers, this is a huge problem, and they try to implement this element by force, but they usually get just the opposite result, and they are left with unhappy personnel. Here are some tips that will hopefully help you to reach your goal of becoming successful in your business.
Improve the Conditions
If you want to make sure that your employees are productive, you will need to give them conditions that are comfortable for human beings. Plants comfort the employees, so try to put some greenery in the office. Natural light is something you should consider when planning your office space design, for it makes the personnel more relaxed, and also, it is said that those people who have enough light at their workplace sleep longer, 46 minutes longer. Try implementing colors in your office, paint the walls a different color, since it is believed that it helps boost various employee traits.
Optimize Emailing
Companies, where emails play a big role, should especially consider this advice. It is believed that a lot of time is wasted while going through all of the emails that they received. You should advise your employees to have a certain period dedicated just for their Email, and stick to it. Also, try to write concise emails, and advise the workers to be likewise. Refrain from emailing your employees off-business hours, especially during the night, since it may cause stress and future negativity.
Optimize Meetings
Many employers decide to have a meeting, believing that is the best way to give out tasks assignments, but the reality is that many could be done through email. So instead of holding a meeting, just send a group email and save time for yourself and your employees. Some things cannot be done without a meeting, but just try to make them as short as possible and to reduce the number of them in a certain time frame. Also, don’t call everyone at the meeting if they are not needed, those who are not vital shouldn’t attend.
Allow Flexible Schedules
Different people have different times when they are most productive, a strict 9-5 workday doesn’t work for everyone, some cannot work productively early in the morning. A solution could be that you allow those who want to divide their shift into two parts. For example, they could work from 8-13 and then have a two-hour break, and then come back at 3 PM. This way, your employees can do some work that they couldn’t do if they worked the usual shift hours, like picking their children from kindergarten or paying their bills. Something that you should look into is remote work. Remote work can be challenging when it comes to productivity, but if you give your employee an amount of work that would challenge his or her involvement, they would probably feel a need to get the work done since they don’t want to look as if they are slacking. Also, remote work allows your workers to do their job in an environment that they choose.
Provide Better Training
Training is a key to the development of an employee in his/her craft. Try making the training an extension to the knowledge of the employer. Give time to the employees so that they can see for themselves how something should be done. This training should give them time to learn the craft, while rushing could bring the opposite of productivity in your office.
Leave Micromanagement
The typical employer is someone who thinks that there cannot be anything done without him/her checking whether every detail is perfect, thus making the employees hesitant and nervous. Instead of Micromanaging, try managing their expectations and requirements. If there is a certain goal you have in mind, try making clear guidelines to reach that goal. You need to let your employees know what you want from them since if they are acquainted with the wanted outcome, they will know better what is expected and wanted from them. Also, when you delegate your tasks, try to leave the room as soon as possible, it will make your workers feel comfortable and more independent.
There are many improvements that you can make to your workplace to make it more productive and also more pleasant for your workers. Pure force and order cannot be better than a true wish to do your work properly, thus you should help the needs of your workers because by making their lives easier, you make your company more productive and thus improve it.
