Productivity is an odd professional term due to how nebulous and vague it can feel while also being such a core concept to the idea of success. You might even be aware that productivity in your business could be improved, without having any idea what the actual problem is or where you should begin trying to remedy it.
Productivity is often a byproduct of other things and addressing it directly can become very difficult for that very reason. However, turning your attention to a variety of aspects of your business might help you to improve other conditions along the way, and could even get the wheels of productivity turning faster than they currently do.
Your Staff
The place that you feel like makes the most sense to start could well be with your staff. As the people in charge of the various arms of your operations, you might feel as though they’re the ones at fault, and the approach that some business owners take to this might well include casting blame. However, it’s first important to examine how the conditions they’re working in could be improved, as well as what blaming them might do to further worsen the situation. Understanding how an improved relationship could help productivity is one way to go, but it’s not the only one.
Instead, you could explore technologies, such as those available at thinqi.com, that help you to effectively develop the talents of your employees in the best direction, optimizing your workforce as well as you can.
Your Technology
On that note, it’s also worth looking at the technology that your business is currently using – as if you’re behind the curve in some of these areas, that might explain why your productivity is falling behind that of your competitors. Understandably, you’re not always going to have the available funds to just throw around at expensive new technologies but understanding what’s best for your business can help you to make the wisest decisions possible here.
This also might be as simple as using technology, such as communication tools, to quickly get updates from around your business in place of obstructive meetings that could do little outside of disrupting various workflows. Trusting everyone to work in their own way and eliminating the prospect of micromanaging might work to your benefit here.
Your Own Productivity
It’s also important that you examine your own personal productivity, as you might find that it makes a difference in how you interact with everyone else’s process. Giving yourself clear tasks for each block of time, and setting targets, might help you to focus on what you have to get through yourself. Of course, there are other elements that can contribute here too, such as ensuring that you get enough sleep and exercise, and understanding the importance that these factors can have might make you more willing to make them a priority.
It’s important to note, though, that productivity doesn’t translate to working yourself to the bone, with exhaustion and fatigue potentially just making the situation worse if you were to encounter them.