9 Expert Tips for Boosting Productivity in the Workplace

March 28, 2019 6 min read31
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Long gone are the days of sitting in a cubicle and pouring over Excel sheets, staring at the clock until you see it strike 5 p.m. Companies big and small are finally catching on to a trend every employee has known for decades: keeping your workers happy helps boost workplace productivity, helping your company thrive.

Just take a look at these stats:

If you want to make sure your company thrives, you’ve got to look out for your employees.

That’s why we asked experts in the human resources, culture, and happiness fields to lend us their wisdom. We asked: What’s your number one tip for boosting productivity in the workplace?

Here’s what they had to say!


1. Work on projects you love.

My number one tip for boosting productivity in the workplace is simple: work on projects you love. If you don’t love what you do, if you don’t feel like your work is meaningful or impactful, your productivity will always suffer.

The best way to start working on more projects you love is to communicate your desires. Talk to your boss about your interests and career goals. Lend a hand to other teams or colleagues who are doing interesting work, tell them you love what they do and ask them if they’d like additional support. When you love the work you’re doing, you’ll always find motivation to get the work done.

 

Adunola Adeshola
Millennial Career Strategist & Forbes Contributor

 


2. Let people work when they’re most productive.

My number one tip to boost productivity is to let employees work when they feel most productive. I’m most productive when I wake up at 8 a.m. until noon. I get another productivity burst between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Working when I feel most productive helps me complete needed tasks faster and more efficiently. That’s why I give our team the flexibility to complete tasks at the hours they propose. Establishing flexible working hours can help take your team’s productivity to the next level.

 

Arianna O’Dell
Founder at Airlink Marketing & Design

 


3. Plan ahead of time.

Come into every week with a plan that aligns your time with your top goals, including time blocked out in your calendar to accomplish those goals. This transitions you from a reactive to a proactive mode.

 

Elizabeth Grace Saunders
Time Management Coach and Author at RealLifeE

 


4. Be flexible.

For me, my number one tip to boost productivity is allowing for flexibility, team bonding, and time to be creative. As a content writer, I find inspiration key to my success and the stories I produce for Lever. When employees are bonding in a creative way, like doing an outside activity or sometimes inside brainstorming, productivity can reach all-time highs and we really team together to reach our full potential.

 

Alicia Garibaldi
Director of Marketing at Lever

 


5. Work as a team.

My number one tip to boost productivity is encouraging the idea that there’s no “I” in “team.” ‘We’ can always achieve more. Honesty and transparency saves everyone time. As far as I’ve observed, visibility empowers team members to be more efficient with their tasks and communication.

When we use Kanban boards or even a Gantt chart and let the team see both their direct tasks and the bigger project picture, they feel more confident pushing a project forward. The teams want to know that their tasks matter.

And there’s been a huge change in productivity level in teams that earlier didn’t use ProofHub and now do — we get feedback for our Gantt chart, Kanban, and Proofing tool often enough that I know it makes a difference.

I read the other day how eating pizza is supposed to make you more productive at work, too. So yes, “productivity snacks” are of no harm from time to time!

 

Sandeep Kashyap
Founder at ProofHub

 


6. Delegate!

Delegate, delegate, delegate! The power of delegation is incredibly key in boosting overall productivity in the workplace. As a leader/manager, it can be nerve racking to commission responsibilities to an employee who has never completed that task. However, doing so allows you to focus on building the business needs, while teammates can gain more exposure within the company and develop new skill sets through taking on these new tasks.

It also helps build another layer of infrastructure and leadership for a stronger operation.

It’s a win-win!

 

Cosette Romero
Sr. Professional Recruiting Manager at Aerotek

 


7. Create a friendly workplace atmosphere.

Create a friendly, laidback, and casual vibe where people can be themselves and feel comfortable. This helps foster an environment where everyone can be creative when solving problems, and feel empowered to make their own decisions. Our team also makes time to catch up with each other and share laughs during work and at our many social events. Having an encouraging and supportive environment like this definitely helps boost productivity and morale!

 

Tiffany Sayers
Culture Manager | Executive Administrator at Centerfield

 


8. Start small.

Be deliberate with your time and find what works for you. I work best and am most productive in the morning, so I try to schedule important tasks early in the day and keep meetings to a minimum, so I have time to focus on the heavier projects that need a fresh mind. By keeping all my random tasks and follow-ups to the afternoons, my day is more organized and my work doesn’t suffer from that “afternoon slump.”

Often, we get inspired and want to make a big move toward being more productive at work, but going from zero to 100 is too much. Choose one thing you want to change and do it – for instance, move routine meetings to the afternoon or block out time each day to focus on that one big project. One tweak at a time adds up in a way that’s sustainable and helps create new, more productive habits.

 

Joshua Zerkel
Head of Global Community at Asana

 


9. Limit distractions around you.

When I think of workplace productivity, the number one thing I try to do is limit distractions. In a world where the average person gets over 63.5 alerts a day from just their cell phone (think about if you add slack, email, etc.), it’s become almost impossible to find productive hours if you don’t diligently plan for them. Every morning I have a distraction-free hour blocked on my calendar to accomplish my “one big thing” for the day. No cell phone (turn it off), no email (close it), no slack – just complete focus on accomplishing my most important task for the day. I actually ended up liking turning off my cell phone notifications so much, I now have them off at all times.

 

August Noble
Marketing & Advertising Consultant at AugustNoble.com

 


Need help inspiring your team? See how video can help! We’ve produced over 6,000 videos since 2014 and can help you create the perfect team video or recruiting video for your company. Give us a call.

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