It’s never easy when you notice employees slacking off at work or that productivity is trending in the wrong direction.

Instead of wringing your hands out in frustration, or shouting at employees, there are more effective ways which you can stimulate the team to increase their productivity.  

Here are a few suggestions.

1. Early Morning Briefings

Over the weekend, employees tend to forget about work – which is a good thing because no one should be thinking about work 24/7. But when is the best time to remind everyone of the actual purpose of the work they’re doing? The mornings!

Every morning, along with other members of your team, go over the main results expected at the end of the day from each person. These briefings don’t have to be long; they are ideally between 10-15 minutes, and they bring everyone up to speed!

2. Similar Tasks Should Be Completed in Batches

When an employee gets into a state of flow for a particular task, is the best time to assign other related tasks to them; and not wait till they are out of flow- because at this point, taking on a similar task would mean they’d have to get into that rhythm afresh!

It is more efficient to place your tasks into batches, small chunks of related activities that can be carried out together.

3. Jeez…What’s Up With the Meetings?

For employees (and if you’d admit it, for yourself too), meetings are the bane of their existence.

We all know that some long meeting sessions are actually a waste of time. So if the reason you’re holding another meeting is that it was so scheduled, it wouldn’t kill you to give it a break and do something more productive with that time. Literally, everyone will thank you for it!

And if that meeting absolutely has to hold, ensuring there’s a set agenda and goal for it is important.

4. Is Your Work Environment Organized?

In an environment where there’s a lot of clutter, employees find it difficult to work productively. There are just too many distractions in such a workspace!

Instead, aim to create white space in your workplace. Let the only thing on your desk be a Keyboard for PC alongside your computer and perhaps a few other key things like a jotter and a pen, and see how much clearer you’d be able to think.

5. A Relaxing Environment Heightens Productivity

It might sound a little off, but when your workspace has light music playing in the background, for example, it helps heighten focus and productivity. And music is a way of making your environment more relaxing. You could try other relaxing strategies as well.

6. For Recurring Tasks, Complete Them at the Same Time Every Day

Routines might sound boring, but they sure do work!

It gives you the strength and willpower to overcome decision fatigue and to become efficient. You are in fact, programming yourself to be successful at those tasks by doing them routinely.

7. Remind Employees of the Company’s Core Motivation

You need to regularly remind your employees about the core motivation behind your company’s many tasks. What drives you? What’s your company’s mission statement?

Reminding yourself and everyone else about the major driving force behind your operations might be the key to up your productivity this year, and to scale up.

As an employer, you would have to constantly make changes to your company structure to enhance the productivity of your workers. You might as well do it right, by following the tips above.

Duncan Kingori has been in the writing profession for a decade now. He has great experience writing informative articles and his work has been appreciated and published in many popular publications. His education background in communication and public relations has given him a concrete base from which to approach different topics in various niches.

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