Although WingSwept is a technology company, one of our major points of focus is helping organizations find more efficiency and productivity. Technology is a great way to do this – if you’ve noticed an inefficient process at your organization, odds are that hundreds of thousands of businesses have faced the same problem, and a technology company is already working on improving that process to reduce the lost time.
But technology isn’t the only way to increase productivity. Here are three ways to increase office efficiency which have been researched and proven effective:
Happy Employees
This is one WingSwept believes in strongly. We’ve been ranked one of the Best Places to Work in the Triangle for the last four years, and we work to foster a positive work environment because it benefits both our employees and our clients. It also benefits the company; happy employees tend to be 12% more productive than average employees, while unhappy employees are 10% less productive than average employees.
How to improve: Make sure small technology roadblocks aren’t causing big headaches for your employees. Ask your employees what one technology system change you could make that would help them be much more productive. Look at their suggestions and implement where possible.
Managing Email Interruptions
Research conducted by Microsoft in 2007 has shown that the average employee was interrupted more than four times per hour by email. When that email led to a diversion, it took over 9 minutes to return to their original task. Just think how much more email you receive at work now than you did in 2007!
How to improve: Read your emails at regular intervals, rather than each time one comes to your inbox. If you can, do it three times – the beginning, middle and end of the day. If that’s not realistic for you, add mid-morning and mid-afternoon checks. Encourage your team to use the interval system also.
Positive Distractions During Repetitive Tasks
Short, positive distractions can increase productivity, rather than inhibit it. It’s important to note that while enjoyable distractions help productivity, negative distractions can reduce productivity, and also decrease the ability to remember information about the current task. So unless work emails and meetings are positive distractions, they don’t count!
How to improve: If you know you’ll be working on one thing for more than an hour and a half, take a two-to-three-minute break about halfway in to walk around and maybe have a brief conversation with a colleague. The positive energy boost will give you the momentum you need to finish strong.
For a more in-depth discussion on how to best utilize technology to increase productivity, call us at 919-779-0954 or contact us online.