Productivity problems can arise without warning but many of the causes for low productivity are unfortunately ignored by many businesses today. That’s because many of the bad habits that cause low productivity amongst your employees have simply fallen into routine.
This means many people simply don’t realise these could be causing problems or they simply might not be able to think of an alternative. Let’s look at some of the biggest productivity problems you’re probably ignoring right now.
Meetings upon meetings
How many meetings take place in your business every week or month? This includes big staff meetings, small team meetings and any other type you can think of. I’ am guessing even the average SME as quite a few, now ask yourself whether all these meetings are really needed.
The answer will usually be a resounding no so don’t be afraid to re-think your businesses strategy when it comes to meetings. Some people will tell you to get rid of meetings full stop which I think is a little hasty.
Meetings are great when they are focused but all too often meetings just waste time and they will be sure to impact productivity. So, plan your meetings carefully and only hold them when you really need to.
No fixed deadlines
It might surprise you just how many businesses are taking a more flexible approach to deadlines. This does come with some benefits however in many circumstances it will just cause people to effectively take their foot off the gas.
If you don’t have a fixed deadline in place then many people will be much more lax when it comes to getting their work done. In certain industries, this can work but in the majority of circumstances, you would be much better by utilising fixed deadlines to ensure your employees stay more focused. Just make sure you are setting realistic and obtainable deadlines.
No clear objective
Do your employees actually know what their objective is when they come into work or how they can go about achieving it? Without clearly defined goals your businesses productivity will suffer which means you need to make sure your business as an innovative and clearly defined OKR.
An OKR or to give it its full name an objectives and key results framework is set-up to define and track your businesses objectives and their outcomes. With one in place, your employees will be able to be much more productive because they will know what they are expected to do with much greater clarity.
No rewards or gratification
It’s unfortunately become commonplace in some industries to no longer reward or notice when your employees have done a good job. Doing a good job is its own reward is a nice enough philosophy but it’s one that is unlikely to foster a productive workplace in the long run. So, how do you avoid or fix this potential productivity problem?
Thankfully in the majority of cases, this is a relatively easy problem to fix, simply make time to congratulate your employees when they’ve done a good job or make sure they know you appreciate their hard work. A simple smile and thank you will often be enough in most cases and trust me your employees will be much more productive when they know you appreciate their hard work.
Poor or outdated equipment
Whatever industry you work in it is highly likely that your business uses equipment of some kind almost every business will use computers, for one thing, won’t they? And this equipment needs to be working right to ensure maximum productivity from your employees.
Now of course when it comes to computers technical problems are going to occur that is just always going to happen at some point, isn’t it? But if repeated errors keep happening or your equipment/ technology is just very old and outdated then you can expect employee productivity to lessen.
This can be a difficult issue to solve because buying new equipment is going to be expensive but if you want to ensure your employees stay productive then you will need to find a way to manage and balance costs while also still ensuring they have access to the equipment they need.
Over and underworking
Both over and underworking will affect your businesses productivity so it’s important you get the balance right. Overworking will cause people to burn out quickly and trying to juggle too many jobs and responsibilities is sure to lead to a lack of productivity.
Underworking is the other side of the coin and just as serious as overworking when it comes to productivity. If you don’t have enough responsibility to keep you busy at work then your productivity will suffer. Because you could end up trying to stretch small jobs out just so you have something to do.
A lack of guidance and growth can also cause you to both overwork or underwork as well so it’s important that if you ever feel your productivity slipping due to either of these issues that you take a step back and think about how you can better manage your workload. Both these are sure to crop-up eventually during your career but they be fixed and you can get your productivity back on track.
A to lax or strict environment
Every business is different but being too lax or too strict is going to cause problems so you’ll need to strive to get the balance right. It might be policy to have only short breaks and be strict with who goes on what dinner hour. But if you’re too strict morale and productivity will be sure to suffer.
However, you also can’t afford to be too lax either as that will just cause a different array of problems including productivity issues. People could end up coming it late and easily putting of work if you’re too lax so get the balance right and always keep track of how things can be improved.