Productivity can feel like one of those buzzwords in business that’s thrown around with so much regularity that you can start to question its meaning. What does it mean? Well, it usually refers to the speed or efficiency at which your business can operate; how it can maintain focus and stay on track. It’s a concept that can be applied to a variety of aspects of your business and so this definition can be broken down further.
Okay, but what about increasing it? How do you go about increasing productivity? Again, it will vary depending on the aspect that you’re talking about, but is there a consistent way that you can achieve this end result?
Here is a guide on how you can focus on certain aspects of your business to improve your overall productivity.
Your Staff
A lot of the conversation around productivity is focused on employees. Getting into a mindset where you think that improved productivity is only possible through your staff might lead to you putting unrealistic expectations on their performance. That’s not to say there’s never going to be any room to improve, but they can only make so much of a difference, and the way that you go about trying to make changes here is also important. Being too stern, demanding and expectant might only work to damage their working relationship with you.
New Technology
Instead, you might turn your attention towards technology that can help. With the right tools, your business might simply receive a boost that wasn’t possible otherwise – provided that you utilise them in the right way. Being able to oversee the entirety of your business operations and access them more efficiently through the use of IFS cloud systems is one example of this. Not only can this efficiency lead to a higher level of productivity due to the reduced downtime and ease of management, but it can allow you to prepare to meet higher demands in the future.
Your Structure
Another aspect of your business to look at is your structure. It might be that you’ve had a certain way of working that has been successful so far, but with changing times might come a need to re-examine. Sure enough, if you’re feeling as though productivity is lacking, it might be that the structure you have in place isn’t appropriate for the level of demand that you’re facing. While this might mean that new technology or additional staff members need to be recruited, it’s also worth examining other solutions. Outsourcing is one such example of how you can alter your structure, and – implemented properly – could prove fruitful.
Shared Responsibility
Delegation might only be an idea that you start to lend serious consideration to in business after you’ve reached a point where you have enough people to delegate to – but even then, it can be difficult to let go. Trusting others with such responsibility can be difficult, especially when you feel as precious towards your business as you likely do. However, this is one way of improving productivity, by allowing progress to be made in areas that previously would have only been accessible to you. Therefore, learning to delegate might be more of a necessity than you think.