We have all heard the expression “happy wife, happy life” and while this is an outdated saying, the basic principle is true. When it comes to a workplace environment, this saying can be replaced with “happy workers, productive business”. Ensuring that your workplace is one your employees enjoy is key to ensuring worker efficiency and productivity. If there are aspects of your business that you want to see change, to create a healthy and thriving work environment that can boost efficiency, then you’ve come to the right place.
Here are 8 tips for creating a happy and productive workplace.
1. Effective Management
Having an effective management team can improve worker happiness and productivity by leaps and bounds. If your management and supervisory staff are not in tune with employees, lack leadership skills, or are otherwise difficult to work with then you will see these attitudes trickle down to all employees.
Management staff needs to be clear and focused, approachable, and offer support to employees. Lack of direction and appropriate leadership directly translate into unhappy and often inefficient employees. If you find workplace productivity is slipping, then it might be time to take a look at your supervisory team’s methods of leading.
2. Open Communication With Employees
Communicating with your employees is one way you can get a clear picture of why workplace efficiency is the way it is. Your employees may be struggling with outdated technology, lack of leadership, or problems with motivation. If your employees don’t have a clear line of communication to let you know what is working and what could be changed then you and your supervisory staff may be left in the dark.
Lack of communication between employees and management can be due to many issues, so it is important to recognize that workers have a voice, and oftentimes the biggest problems can be fixed by opening lines of communication and listening to your workers. If you want to get an idea of what your workers are thinking, check here for workplace survey ideas, and open the lines of communication. Listening to your employees is the biggest step you can take to correct any issues they may be having and remove any obstacles towards inefficiency in the office.
3. Productive Meetings
We have all been to meetings that seem like they could have been an email, are frustrating, and seem to waste time that could have been better spent finishing work and making deadlines. While team meetings can be a great way to communicate, go over projects, goals, and growth, if the meetings are not effective and don’t run smoothly, then they are just another time-waster in the office. Make sure that your meetings are productive, informative, and fun. Have an agenda and stick to it. Ensuring efficient use of time in meetings is a step you can take towards having a more productive workday.
4. Manageable Workload
Ensuring that your workers have a manageable workload is incredibly important when it comes to productivity, efficiency, and worker happiness. If your employees are overwhelmed with work, it can lead to delays, poor quality, and lack of worker retention. Your employees are not machines, and in order to get high-caliber work, it is important to ensure they are not biting off more than they can chew.
Don’t over-assign work, and make sure that you are seeing if there is a need for a relief worker, assistant, or possibly a temp in the office to even out the load. Work cannot be done efficiently if it is done with a sense of panic, so it is important to manage this aspect very carefully to avoid any problems before they arise.
5. Training and Coaching
Effective coaching goes a long way towards efficiency in the workplace. If your employees are not properly trained this can lead to disaster. If they require refreshers, sales coaching, or support when they struggle then it is important to provide that. Making sure your employees feel comfortable doing their jobs, and have all the knowledge they need to do so can increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace.
Proper training from the start is a great way to make sure your workers know what is expected of them, and allow them to feel confident in the job and requirements.
6. Technology
Utilizing the appropriate technology in the office and work environment is key. Paper record-keeping, slow computers, a network that continually crashes will lead to lengthy delays and a lack of productivity. You can’t run a large warehouse using only paper to track inventory. You wouldn’t have only typewriters in your office environment. Ensuring that your employees have access to helpful technology and appropriate software will go a long way in increasing productivity and efficiency in the workplace.
7. Ensure Appropriate Breaks are Taken
Tired people make mistakes. If workers are not taking their required breaks, eating, and having a moment to themselves, that leads to a rushed and panicked environment and can lead to costly errors and lack of time. Ensuring that your employees have access to an area in which to take their breaks in peace and comfort will go a long way to ensuring their work is done efficiently.
8. Employee Happiness and Satisfaction
There are many ways you can ensure your employees are happy within their work environment, and this will translate into better work, more efficient completion of tasks, and an overall productive crew. If your workers are not happy in their jobs this can also lead to greater turnaround, which leads to mistakes made by new employees if they are constantly leaving and going. Worker retention and happiness is a great area to focus on when increasing efficiency and productivity in the workplace.
Change doesn’t have to be scary, and sometimes it can be exactly what you need to grow and increase business profits. If your workplace seems stuck in a rut, if you are struggling to make the most of every day, then following these tips can have a dramatic impact on the way employees view their jobs and environment. Taking these tips into consideration is a great step to take when trying to foster a happy and fun work environment that will lead to greater efficiency and business growth.
