3 Tips to Improve your Productivity
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13/07/2022
Put your hand up if you love efficiencies? A good spreadsheet? A checklist?
There are many variables by which we measure productivity. I’m sure we can all agree that when things are running well – and we are being productive it boosts our team morale and our happiness at work. I was a little excited and stumped when first asked about this topic – as there are lots of ways that productivity can be improved …. Oh, where to begin! How many tips can I give? And in what areas?
As a starting point and to keep it simple regardless of your role or industry here are my 3 key tips to help you increase your productivity:
1. WHY?
When we first start a role and are training we ask WHY all the time. Why do I run that report? Why do I enter that there? We do this so that we can learn quicker, get up to speed (and maybe impress our new employer). However, a great way to increase productivity is to ask yourself WHY you do your daily, weekly and monthly tasks.
Once you take a step back and look at your tasks with experience and a better understanding of the business, you will realise that there is often a better way of doing things. This will result in increased productivity, and efficiencies OR have a better impact on the business with the end result.
2. WHO?
Quite often when a workplace grows, we grow without thinking through the workflow. We add additional people to help with the workload but really if we stop and think about; Who does a task? Are they the right person to do it? Does it tie into someone else’s role better? Does someone have the best skill set for the task? A great way to gain productivity (and staff development) is to streamline roles, teams and functions. It allows us to focus on working within our strengths and developing skills in areas we need.
3. TO DO OR NOT TO DO – THAT IS THE QUESTION….
When thinking about the things we do (or don’t do) daily, weekly or monthly, ask yourself is the order right? We can increase productivity but reduce our double handling and increase our proactiveness – the trick is knowing which tasks to be proactive with and which ones are generating work just for the sake of work? Have a think about your tasks, can you increase productivity by changing the order? Can you combine certain tasks to speed up others? Are some tasks now obsolete? Does our software actually allow us to do it differently? All of these small changes result in productivity increases and improved outcomes.
Why not approach your productivity as an individual and then as a team or department? This will help streamline your workflow and the flow of work through the business. The more we collaborate within our teams the better the outcomes will be…. Of course, you can always ask us at KLC for help too! Did you know we do business consulting too? Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is a great way to get the ball rolling on increasing your productivity.
