Improving Productivity: Why are We Even Trying?

More and more managerial decisions, it seems, are beginning to revolve around increasing employees’ productivity these days. Different ways to do it have been multiplying as well, ranging from office plan conceptualisation to the use of employee time tracker software, all with varying degrees of success

But what are we exactly after? And why do we want it so badly?

Hopefully, after a little bit of discussion, we’ll be able to give precise answers to these questions, which might help us in discovering new creative ways to increase productivity as well as guide us in how to best make use of productivity monitoring tools such as employee time tracker software.

What Kind of Productivity Do We Want?

Being productive encompasses more than one single aspect of work. Therefore, sometimes what you’re trying to improve isn’t really what you’re ultimately after.

Take the speed of work for example. This might be one of the ways in which you can attempt to define productivity - as the rate of finishing tasks. Efficiency is a big part of it but focusing only on that can get you some unexpected side effects, like sloppiness, skipping steps in business processes and overall degradation of the quality of work.

What about working for longer stretches of time? That seems like another picture we have in mind when we think about a productive employee. But this, too, is a one-dimensional view which, if pursued in isolation and with disregard to other aspects, can quickly lead to burnout in employees.

So what is the productivity that we want? How do we define it?

The best definition of productivity in the workplace is the one that takes into account all aspects of producing highly satisfactory work output. This means having better focus, genuine motivation to do well, less chance of being distracted, efficiency that comes with all these and, of course, maintaining the same quality of work. Basically, it means doing more work while the quality stays the same or, preferably, progressively gets higher.

The fact that this notion is so complex is the reason why boosting, or just monitoring productivity in the workplace is so difficult.

The point, however, isn’t to force it and to make employees hustle all the time, but to create such an environment that would prompt effortless and sustainable productivity.

How Does a Company Benefit from Increased Productivity?

Now that productivity is defined in such precise and clear terms, the picture of the kind of benefits it can bring to the company starts to emerge.

First of all, just the sheer fact that if your team is more productive, it means they’ll be able to do more work in the same amount of time, is sure to bring your company some additional profit. It’s simple - more projects done means more money. And with highly productive workforce, you won’t have to take on additional staff to achieve this outcome.

Secondly, remember when we mentioned that productivity should ideally be effortless and natural? If you manage to accomplish this, you’ll get a workforce that’s able to meet all the deadlines without being stressed out. And the fact that your employees aren’t under this additional pressure means they won’t burn out quickly and leave your company. So higher employee retention rate is another perk you get.

Finally, high productivity is sure to result in more goals achieved, which acts like a fuel to employees’ job satisfaction and their motivation. This positive attitude is in turn conducive to more productivity and the circle goes round and round, beautifully sustainable.

You just have to go about dealing with it the right way.

How to Go About Improving Productivity?

There are so many different tips and ways on how to increase productivity that we would probably need a book to present them all instead of this short article. So we’ll take a different route - we’ll introduce you to how you can use employee time tracker software as a tool for productivity monitoring and ultimately improvement of it.

As the saying goes, if you can measure it, you can improve it. And this is what employee time tracker software will do for you. If can provide the time and efficiency perspective of measuring productivity by tracking how long employees spend on productive tasks versus how much time they spend on distractions and breaks.

This data from productivity monitoring software is an excellent basis for your decisions that are aimed at boosting the efficiency of your team. Combine it with quality control and you’ve got yourself a way to track productivity in all its aspects, as well as guidelines on how you can improve it within your specific workplace.

And that’s where the real adventure begins.

Conclusion

High employee productivity is what many managers are after. But in order to get all the benefits that come with it, you need to have a clear picture of what you’re looking for. With this in mind, your efforts will be much more informed and you can enjoy having more projects done, higher profits and a happier workforce.

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