6 Proven Tips to Improve Small Business Productivity

When running a small business, you’ll always want your employees to get more work done during their work hours. This is the case because there are so many things to do and so little time which means even the slightest increase in productivity can do wonders for your small business. And even if you believe your team is as productive as possible, you should keep looking for new way to try to help them get more things done. Therefore we’ve come up with 6 tips that have proven to do trick for other business owners and might just be what you looking for.

Say no to multitasking

A lot of people out there believe that by multitasking they’ll be able to get more work done. While tackling two tasks at once might give them a feeling that they’re being more productive this usually isn’t the case.

So, if you see your employees trying to multitask, trying to discourage them from doing so is recommended. Studies have shown that when multitasking, we tend to lose the focus required to adequately complete each of them. On top of this, multitasking is known to cause stress, which is probably the last thing your employees need. Also, multitasking makes them more prone to errors and can seriously damage your business operations.

Ditch social media

There’s no need to say that we all use social media now. Platforms such as Facebook and Instagram help us stay in touch with our friends and browse the web for products we need. However, if your employees have a tendency to use social media while they’re working, they might not be as productive as they could be. Scrolling down their news feeds makes them less focused and more likely to make a serious mistake. So, besides discouraging multitasking, you might also want to discourage your employees from using social media while at work. You can give them a couple of 5-minute breaks they can use to check their social media.

Go environmentally-friendly

Today, it’s all about being eco-friendly. So, while homeowners try to lower their energy consumption, small businesses are trying to reduce the impact their offices have on the environment. But if you decide to do this, you won’t only be helping the planet Earth but you’ll be aiding your small business as well.

This is the case because going green can make your employees be more productive. For example, you can start relying on natural more, since it has proven to increase employees’ mood and productivity. Moreover, potted plants should help you reduce the noise and improve air quality inside the office.

Opt for standing meetings

Even though holding meetings is one of the important aspects of running a business, they tend to take too long and have your employees switch focus from what they were doing. That said, opting for standing meetings can be an amazing idea. This type of meetings should only take 5 to 10 minutes and help your employees get back to what they were doing. On top of this, standing meetings are known to cause group arousal, meaning that these should your employees get more work done. Of course, you still need to do some preparation before you call for a standing meeting in order to make it effective.

Build a perfect break room

A lot of big companies out there have break rooms. These things have proven to do wonders for productivity at those companies and that’s why you might want to think about creating a break room for your office. The key to designing a good break room is to make it as comfy as possible. This means you should add a lot of comfortable rugs and sofas in it. Besides this, you’ll want to include something like a TV or a ping-pong table that should allow your team members to have fun while on a break. Designing an ultimate break room should encourage your employees to take both physical and mental break from their work and be more productive.

Purge clutter from your office

After you’ve been running your small business for some time, chances are you’ll find your office full of the things you don’t really need in order to keep your business going. These things tend to take up valuable office space and cause stress to your employees.

And in order to increase office productivity, purging all of that clutter is definitely the right move. Go through all the things in your office and identify everything you haven’t been using lately. The things you have no more use of can be moved to a storage unit, thrown away or given to charity you choose.

With all the meetings, emails and phone calls, getting everything done while in the office can be a real challenge for both you and your employees. Implement the 6 tips we’ve given above and you should soon start seeing your small business is being more productive.

image credit: pixabay.com