You can’t manage what you can’t measure.
Monitoring employee progression is essential for business success and growth.
Improving productivity helps not only the business owners, but also company employees grow.
Effective productivity management requires mutual effort by both employers and employees alike.
Let’s explore several ways to manage and improve the productivity of your employees to enhance your business and boost Return on Investment.
After you read this article, you can walk away with tips to improve productivity within your team. Let’s begin!
How to Track Staff Productivity
Set Clear Expectations
Communication with your team is imperative to understand the scope of work and set clear guidelines. Without this kind of communication, mistakes can be made, and deadlines can be missed.
Communication is also essential for monitoring deadlines and setting discreet expectations for your team. Using a project management platform is a typical option. Whether you’re managing remote staff or in the office.
Statistics show that a lack of effective collaboration and communication is the leading cause of 86% of workplace failures. While open, two-way communication can increase productivity by up to 25%. (Pumble, 2021).
Providing explicit expectations keeps both employers and employees on the same page to successfully carry out projects and tasks.
Your business will grow, and your employees will feel more at ease knowing what’s expected of them.
Allow Opportunities for Feedback
There’s no denying the importance of providing and receiving feedback in the work environment and how it facilitates effective communication and offers an explanation (as mentioned in our previous point).
Concise feedback allows employees to grow and measure personal success when they are able to evaluate their performance.
Regular feedback can become part of the company culture and reduce any negative stigmas surrounding it.
Project Management Software
Project management software is increasingly a staple in business environments to help allocate work. Effective project management software can take the guesswork out of measuring productivity.
It is estimated that more than 77% of high-performing projects make use of reliable project management software, a testament to its ability to effectively and efficiently allocate work to the benefit of both employers and employees alike. (Finance Online, 2022).
However, selecting the project management software that best suits your business can be a daunting task, and that is why we have created a checklist that will enable you to find the best fit for your needs.
Check it out here!
Define Success for Your Team
Many businesses focus on input versus outcomes, but it should really be the other way around.
Defining success and results ties back to effective communication and expectations, thereby enhancing employee confidence in their work.
It’s crucial to set standards and goal-based outcomes for your team, so team-members are aligned on the objectives and expectations from the start. As employees who know how business success is defined, can tailor their productivity to achieve those stated goals.
Implement a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
Often companies will create a structured PIP, also known as a performance action plan. This tool gives employees with performance deficiencies the opportunity to succeed. (Shrm.org).
Many businesses rely on a PIP for better communication, clearer expectations, and an action plan. Implementing a PIP as a standard practice will assist in setting realistic expectations for your team. It helps everyone stay on the same page — literally.
Employees may view a PIP negatively, but by removing the stigma and explaining the principles to your team, assists everyone to be on the same page regarding expectations.
As the employer, it’s crucial to establish the benefits of a PIP, by not creating negativity around its usage.
Use Positive Reinforcement
Often, you’ll hear the phrase “positive reinforcement,” but you might not be sure what that means.
Positive reinforcement can be defined as, the application of a stimulus that is viewed as positive, in response to a desirable action or outcome, in order to positively reinforce that behaviour and increase the likelihood that the employee will replicate that behaviour again in the future. (Verywellmind, 2021).
There’s significant value in utilising positive reinforcement as a management tool within the workplace, as it encourages employees to work harder and perform better, while simultaneously mitigating against productivity loss and the negative impacts of employee disengagement.
Ultimately, you’ll obtain greater results from the positive environment created, as employees will be encouraged to be more productive. This is especially true for managing remote employees. .
Implement These Best Practices
Above are just a few examples of ways to improve productivity amongst your team.
As a business, it’s in your best interest to nurture and foster your team, providing guidance and tools to benefit everyone.
Implementing these best practices can secure a team and reduce turnover rates by creating a happy and healthy work environment.
Productivity will reflect a company’s success, but it’s crucial to go about it in a way that encourages your employees whilst benefiting the employers.
We cannot stress enough the importance of considering these ways to increase employee productivity without negative consequences.
Ready to see the full scope of WorkShifty’s productivity tools?
