Small business owners often find themselves struggling to keep up with the demands of managing a business and working the same number of hours as their full-time employees. With both positions demanding a lot from small business owners, it’s important that they know how to maximize productivity in order to save time and increase revenue.

By using their co-workers’ talents more effectively and improving their work environment, small business owners can ensure that their company is always running at its highest efficiency. Wondering what an S-Corp is? See everything that TRUiC has to say about S-corporations if they are the best option for you.

10 Tips On How To Increase Productivity In Your Small Business

Recognize Each Employee’s Strengths

Everyone has different skills and abilities. By understanding what each person on staff is good at – whether it be organizing projects or creating designs – you can better schedule tasks and roles within the company.

When a small business owner hires a new employee, they should consider what duties they’re most proficient in and give them tasks accordingly, rather than simply giving everyone a random assortment of responsibilities every day.

For example, one individual may be good at running telephone calls when another would prefer to work behind the scenes on social media marketing. The more you know about each person’s skill set, the better job you can do in managing your team.

Create A Work Environment That Boosts Morale

To keep employees satisfied with their jobs and wanting to stay there for years to come, it’s important that owners create an environment that makes people feel welcome. A great way to accomplish this is by setting up the workspace in a way that benefits the employees rather than simply yourself.

For example, you could turn part of an office into a break area with couches and coffee machines where employees are encouraged to take their breaks throughout the day. By giving more of your staff input on how they can make their jobs better, you’ll create happier workers who will be less likely to look for new jobs elsewhere.

Reward Your Employees

It’s important that small business owners stay on top of employee motivation by rewarding hard work wherever possible with an employee rewards software. Whether this means publicly recognizing an individual at a meeting or including them in company outings, letting everyone know that their contributions are truly valued will inspire people to work harder next time around.

On the other hand, it’s important not to punish your employees for the smallest mistakes. Holding grudges against people who make honest slip-ups may end up causing more harm than good, as it will only inspire them to avoid doing their job rather than actually improving themselves.

Take Your Employees Seriously

If one of your team members comes up with a great idea, don’t ignore their suggestion just because it wasn’t your idea originally. Taking employees seriously has positive reverberations throughout the entire company and sets an example for others to stand behind their ideas as well.

Dress For Success

Getting your hands dirty is always good in the startup phase, but once your company starts to grow, dress up for work. Employees will follow suit and be more motivated to keep up the momentum instead of dressing casually, knowing that you’re also dressed down.

Understand What Drives Each Individual Employee’s Productivity

Some people tend to operate best when they’re under pressure; others do their best work when afforded more flexibility and encouragement. Understanding what drives your employees will allow you to manage their workload in a way that suits them best.

Many people feel stressed when required to meet a deadline, but some excel when given a goal and tasked with reaching it. Praising an employee for going ‘above and beyond’ is great, but better results can be achieved through reminding the individual of your expectations and setting new goals that they’ll then enjoy striving towards.

Give Them The Opportunity To Learn New Skills

Employees who are encouraged to develop their skill set within your company will be more engaged and motivated by what they do as a result. In addition, offering training courses, whether that’s related directly to their job role or not, can encourage employees to start thinking about how they might apply those same learning skills elsewhere.

This is a relatively inexpensive way of developing your staff, especially if you can find an online course your employees can work through at their own pace at home before coming back refreshed and ready for action in the workplace.

Encourage Your Employees To Take The Time To Wind Down

It’s been proven that taking some downtime throughout the day is good for productivity levels as it allows our minds to rest before we come back refreshed and ready for another challenge.

Allowing your staff this ‘downtime’ means they’ll return from their break more motivated and with improved problem-solving skills, meaning they’re better equipped for whatever comes next – whether that’s a new project or dealing with a difficult client.

Make Sure You Give Regular Feedback

It’s human nature to perform better when given praise for our efforts, but regular feedback is also a good way to ensure you’re on the right track when it comes to managing your team.

If an employee has been working on a project for a few days and hasn’t let you know their progress status, ask them how they’re going. Getting employees in the habit of giving you updates will allow you to better allocate resources where they’re needed most.

Stop Micromanaging

This applies both ways – from employer to employees and from employers to themselves. Nobody likes being micromanaged, especially when we feel that our time could be better spent elsewhere. On the other hand, letting employees know your expectations and trusting them with what they do is a motivator, while allowing yourself breathing room to work on other projects will ultimately lead to being more productive.

In Conclusion

By taking steps to use their employees’ talents more effectively and creating a welcoming environment, small business owners can increase productivity across their company without constantly working long hours. With happier workers producing better work, every member of the team is bound to succeed in this new era of increased productivity.