How To Be More Productive At Work
| Updated
High productivity in the workplace ensures that clients receive the quality work they expect and that teams continue to develop their skills. However, productivity can fluctuate for many reasons. These may include external influences such as global events or internal challenges such as workload, wellbeing or lack of resources.
Being more productive at work is not just about having tools and tips to help you. It also involves identifying barriers and creating systems to overcome them. At eras, we look at practical productivity strategies alongside psychometric insights to help teams perform at their best.
What Could Impact Productivity?
A range of factors can affect productivity in the workplace. They are generally divided into external and internal influences.
| External Factors on Productivity | Internal Factors on Productivity |
|---|---|
| World events - The COVID-19 Pandemic changed the way that many businesses worked and dramatically changed our everyday routines. | Working environment - With hot desking, hybrid working and more, workplaces can become extremely busy and noisy. This leads to an increase in distractions and a reduction in productivity. |
| Personal life events - Family issues, problems in relationships and more could cause stress and anxiety, which could carry over into work. | Training and development - Many businesses put training and development at the heart of everything that they do. However, a worker without the training and development that they need may find themselves spending longer on tasks as they haven't had the necessary training to complete them. |
| Health and wellbeing - Physical and mental health can affect our mood at work and how much work we can get through. | Workload - Workloads can fluctuate, especially with increases in demand, staff absences and new projects starting. This could lead to burnout and stress. |
| Financial difficulties - The current cost-of-living crisis is putting significant pressure on employees, and other factors can lead to a decrease in productivity. | Workplace conflict - Sometimes, coworkers don't get along. This can lead to tension and conflict, which could cause problems in productivity. |
| Travel and distance - Commuting to work is a struggle for many workers. A long commute, delays in public transportation, traffic jams and more can lead to long days and a lack of productivity. | Lack of support - A company culture without a focus on supporting staff or providing adequate compensation for work can mean that workers don't feel motivated and so they may not be productive. |
Tips to Improve Productivity at Work
Prioritisation
Not all tasks carry the same importance. Help your team understand which projects should come first. Prioritising ensures that time-sensitive or business-critical tasks are completed promptly, while lower-priority items can be handled later.
The key is to maintain consistency. If every task is labelled a priority, none truly are. Establish clear criteria for what "high priority" means within your team.
Communication Strategies
Clear communication can transform productivity. When everyone understands their role, deadlines and objectives, work becomes smoother and more efficient.
A shared workspace or digital platform where resources are centralised can help prevent confusion. Open communication also allows employees to raise concerns early, enabling management to adjust workloads or provide support where needed.
Time Management Techniques
Effective time management can make a significant difference to productivity at work. Consider these popular methods:
- The Pomodoro Technique: Work in focused intervals (usually 25 minutes) followed by short five-minute breaks to maintain concentration.
- Time Blocking: Plan your day in advance by assigning specific tasks to specific time slots. This helps reduce multitasking and distractions.
- Parkinson's Law: Set firm deadlines to encourage focus. For instance, commit to finishing a task before lunch or before your laptop battery runs out.
Experiment with different methods to find what works best for your team's workflow.
Using Psychometrics to Identify Productivity Barriers and Create Solutions
Psychometric assessments are valuable tools for understanding individuals and teams. They provide data-driven insights into behavioural traits, working styles and development needs. By identifying barriers to productivity, you can design targeted interventions that enhance performance and engagement.
Is The Quest Profiler® Right for Your Business?
The Quest Profiler® is one of the fastest-growing personality questionnaires in the UK. It has been used in the recruitment selection process and in training and development by some of the biggest companies in Britain. With three levels of detail available, you can gain incredible insight into individuals and teams.
- Standard - Behavioural preferences, leadership styles and team styles.
- Full - Sales performance, culture match, competencies, as well as all of the elements of the standard package.
- Premium - Leadership approach, conflict handling, Jungian type, emotional behaviours, development interventions and all of the elements from the standard and full packages.
How the threesixty assessment tool could help
If you want a deeper understanding of employee performance, threesixty offers a comprehensive view of an individual's strengths and development areas.
Using feedback from multiple reviewers, it provides information on personality, working style and relationships. The tool generates a detailed summary, including relationship and competency insights, behavioural analysis, development interventions and an action planner.
The result is a clear understanding of how each person contributes to team productivity and where improvements can be made.
Could Psychometrics Improve Productivity in Your Business?
Psychometric assessments are proven to support recruitment, development and retention. They provide clear insights into employee motivation, teamwork and leadership potential. With the right data, you can remove barriers that reduce productivity and create a thriving, high-performing workforce.
Integrating psychometric tools into your organisation's processes is straightforward with help from eras. Contact us to discover how psychometric solutions can enhance productivity across your teams.
Call +44 (0)1379 882279 or email info@eras.co.uk to get started.