Check the index for more organizing and time management articles.
7 Steps for Stifling Productivity in the Office
Ensuring that employees cannot give their best
In today's recession atmosphere, productivity is a keyword. Yet bosses often do the very things that stifle productivity when asking for more work from fewer employees. Here are seven ways to be sure you do not get the best from your staff:
1. Praise "busy" employees. Busy does not mean effective or efficient. Often the busy ones are the one who have to stay late and come in early because they did not make the best use of their days.
2. Pass out all the extra work. When there are layoffs, everyone ends up with additional tasks stacked on their desks. You cannot just delegate more and expect it all to be done. Provide guidelines as to what is the priority work and reward those who are focused.
3. Ignore your own desk. If the logjam is in your office, and your lack of organization is slowing down projects, then get choose someone with good office organizing skills to assist you.
3. Cut back on training. This is a discretionary expense, but what better time to provide organizing and time management seminars than when you are expecting increased productivity from your staff.
4. Have more meetings. There is more work and you want to be sure projects are moving along, but just gathering everyone together frequently limits the time they can actually work. It is better to follow up one-on-one for specific items.
5. Do not bring in outside help. Even though your staff has been cut and the budget is tight, consider using temporary assistants for bigger projects so you keep your own employees at a productive and stress-free level.
6. Stifle new initiatives. The economy may be slower, but that does not mean that there isn't a place for new ideas. Ask your employees to be constantly evaluating work flow and providing ideas to improve the bottom line. Employees need to know their ideas are valued and appreciated.
7. Make sure everyone knows how lucky they are. We all see the news about the 10 per cent jobless rate, and workers are worried. If you harp on this, scared workers will be stressed workers. Stressed workers get sick more frequently. Because they are worried about their jobs, they will come to work even when they are sick. They are not productive then, and they will be spreading those germs to others. Instead, emphasize the value of your current employees.
Robert Half International offers a free report on the "30 Most Common Mistakes Managers Make in an Uncertain Economy" in the areas of morale and retention, innovation and risk taking, productivity, and building business.
Copyright © 2009 Key Organization Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Contact Key Organization Systems, Inc. for written permission to reproduce an article.
If you would like to jumpstart your organizing efforts and
add to your time management skills, we can help!
Corporate Time Management Training: seminars and consulting
to increase daily work flow and reduce stress
Individual Assistance: our onsite and virtual office
organizing to bring about changes quickly
On Your Own: books and CDs to work at your
own pace