Are you one of those working every day until at least 8:00 p.m.?
Once or twice a week you stay until 11pm and working on weekends is already routine.
My friend, this is important news: You’re extremely unproductive!
How so? That’s right: working hard only shows that you have to work hard to get your results.
If you’re facing a heavy work routine like the one described above, find out how to increase productivity at work and live with more quality.
Urgently, check this out in our blog: 5 causes of “brain fog” that affect productivity at work
Being productive is very different from working hard
Productivity is the key word of any successful business. In this way, companies are on a constant search for ways to increase their productivity rates and achieve better efficiency.
For this to happen, each collaborator must do their part. So the question is: how do you increase productivity at work?
There’s no doubt that this is not an easy question to answer since it involves several factors. The feeling we have is that there is never enough time to do all our day-to-day tasks.
But is this problem a lack of time or a lack of time management?
The returns are constant but tasks seem to have no end. So we’ve separated several tips that will help you produce more efficiently.
But before we figure out how to improve productivity at work, we need to better understand this concept that permeates organizations. Come with us!
Do you know what productivity is?
Productivity is nothing more than the relationship between the quantity produced (product or service) and the resources used for its realization.
In other words, to achieve efficient productivity, you have to produce more with the least possible resources. However, it’s essential to be aware of the quality of the product or service provided.
In a company, it’s identified as a productive employee who did more and achieved good results in less hours worked.
But it’s not just about working harder. Among the ways to improve productivity at work, the main one is to find the balance between production, use of resources (time) and quality.
Check out 5 tips on how to increase productivity at work
Now that you’ve got the concept, it’s time to learn about ways to increase productivity at work.
1. Organize your tasks
The first tip on how to increase productivity at work is classic. To organize tasks is to know how to establish criteria for them, such as deadlines, steps and urgency.
This way, you’ll be able to deliver your tasks without delays and you’ll know exactly how much time you need to complete each one of them.
You use calendars and spreadsheets to manage your activities. Check out some productivity tools and use technology to your advantage.
Are you a proud multi-tasker? You should know that this is a mistake!
This is especially true in HEFLO, you can map all your workflows and set deadlines to complete each task.
In addition, it’s possible to define “triggers” that alert people about the progress of the deadline or even take action to ensure a service level agreement. Learn more about this feature in this HEFLO Knowledge Base article.
You don’t need to map all processes. 
Start with just a few routines. Create 4 or 5 workflows for the main processes, and also 1 generic workflow (the famous “Other”) for everything you don’t know yet.
Put it into practice and record everything that can be improved to have more productivity.
From time to time revise your flows and generate a new version with the improvements.
Better still…
Create new flows based on your accumulated knowledge about your team’s productivity.
“One important factor that I consider for productivity is standardization. Standardize deliveries, determining “what” should be done and “how”, with rules and quality requirements. It seems obvious, but we don’t see this in practice, usually processes are performed without a specific direction, leaving hand-off relationships dubious, which makes processes lose alignment with the whole operation when it should be about macro issues. Standardization assists in understanding and improving processes, establishing greater efficiency in the operation.” Mateus Pizetta – Business Process Specialist (BPM)
2. Don’t overload yourself
It’s scientifically proven: those who do one task at a time have better results.
According to neuroscientist Earl Miller, the human brain is not suitable for multi-tasking. In this way, excessive information and commands slow down your performance.
He who says he is capable of doing several things at the same time may end up not giving due attention and dedication to a given task.
Therefore, it’s critical that you create the habit of performing one demand at a time. This will boost your productivity.
3. Avoid procrastinating
Procrastinating is the famous saying “leave it for later”. This habit is extremely harmful for those who want to achieve good results and be more productive.
If a task needs to be done, do it. Snoozing will only cause the work to pile up in front of you, which will affect your ability to do other things.
The tip is to “swallow the biggest frogs first“, those you would rather not do. Once you get rid of them, the rest of the day is going to be easy!
The best way to start is to stop talking and start doing! - Walt Disney Click To Tweet4. Just stand-up meetings!
Excessive meetings eliminate any possibility of increasing productivity at work!
Avoid long, meaningless meetings.
Does it make sense for a meeting to drag on longer than 45 minutes?
Scrum has a radical idea for this:
All participants stay standing up! Among countless benefits, this condition creates a bit of discomfort and forces the participants to be objective in the agenda items.
Source: Are daily stand-up (Scrum) meetings mandatory in AGILE?
5. Establish goals
Always keep in mind that every demand must be delivered within a certain time frame.
So it’s interesting that you have your own goals according to your pace of work and the business need.
Suppose you’re doing a report:
In this case, set a reasonable time you want to finish the report by. Once you do that, you’ll be dedicated to that task (remember hint number 2) until it’s finished.
Are you a manager?
Then communicate team goals and give feedback on progress.
And the best part:
The best manager there is, is 100% predictable because your team knows what they should do to grow and be productive.
Last tip on goals:
Implement a cash management strategy. Put a dashboard with all the team’s goals and real time updates on a television. If there’s a problem they’ll naturally move more to get the problem off the television. If the numbers are good, they’ll become even more motivated and productive.
Source: How DonorsChoose.org Uses Dashboards to Drive Impact.
Start with good people, set the rules, communicate, motivate and reward your employees. If you do all these things effectively, you can't go wrong. - Lee Iacocca Click To TweetCan you rest a little and be productive? Find out:
6. Resting
How do you increase work productivity while resting? A lot of people think that being productive is synonymous with working for hours and more hours with the minimum of rest.
Whoever thinks so, which we have said, is completely mistaken.
Productivity is also related to the intelligent use of free time. That’s why it’s important that you take breaks at work, something around 10 minutes.
THE Pomodoro technique, for example, teaches that we should focus on tasks for 25 minutes and rest 5 on consecutive cycles. After 4 cycles (which adds up to 2 hours), one can rest for half an hour and return for another 4 cycles.
This time may be enough for you to recharge your energies and oxygenate your thinking. So that tricky task may be simpler than you think.
Now that you know more about how to increase productivity at work, how about applying these tips in your day to day?
Are there any that you would like to share with us? Please use the comments and tell us!
“Lesson Learned about Productivity. Automate or outsource activities that are not directly linked to your Core Business. In my case the automation of the whole process of CRM and Finance. Big thanks.” Alcindo Correa Filho – Founder of AC Creative Studios and Project Manager
Also see in our blog: Examples of gamification: It’s fun to be more productive
2 Comments. Leave new
Thanks for giving for information about increasing Productivity in our work place. I was read the above passage and taken few tips to increase productivity.
1. Tracking productivity for every one.
2. Schedule break timings or Minimize.
3. Trigger a mail for day on day productivity to each person.
4. Creating a timelines
5. Avoid leave it for later (Procrastinating)
6. Avoiding long meaning less meetings.
7. Creating own goals according to your work.
Thank you!