What Can a Business Do to Improve Its Productivity?
To help businesses boost their productivity, we’ve gathered thirteen unique strategies from founders, executives, and other top professionals. From boosting productivity with AI tools to improving efficiency with time-blocking techniques, discover the diverse range of methods these leaders employ to enhance their own productivity.
- Boost Productivity With AI Tools
- Twice-Daily Email Checking Strategy
- Calendarize for Effective Time Management
- Improve Productivity With Sprint Planning
- Cultivate Continuous Improvement and Quick Action
- Boost Productivity With Task Delegation Software
- Implement a Performance Management System
- Regular Goal Review for Productivity
- Implement Time-Tracking for Efficiency
- Leverage Cloud-Based Solutions for Productivity
- Boost Productivity With Pomodoro Technique
- Simplify Processes for Higher Productivity
- Improve Efficiency With Time-Blocking Techniques
Boost Productivity With AI Tools
Businesses looking to increase productivity might want to consider introducing AI tools into their workflow. These tools can take over repetitive or time-consuming tasks, freeing up the team to focus on more value-added activities. For instance, AI-powered tools can help with anything from customer service automation to data analysis, effectively taking care of mundane tasks and allowing for more creativity and innovation within the team.
Implementing AI tools has been a significant productivity boost. For instance, using an AI-based content generator tool for a content-based online business has decimated the time spent on creating new content. It helps produce high-quality articles at a much faster pace, allowing more time to focus on strategy and business growth. Using AI is a perfect example of “working smarter, not harder.”
Juliet Dreamhunter
Founder, Juliety
Twice-Daily Email Checking Strategy
I check my emails twice daily. They are never the first task in my day by design. My usual schedule includes one full sweep around midday and another when I cook dinner. When checking email, it’s all about interpreting the information and responding quickly.
If a follow-up task or question will take longer than three minutes, I inform the sender and add an item to my task list with a link to the email thread itself. This approach has had a profound impact on email inquiries and their potential to derail my plan for a full day.
Trevor Ewen
COO, QBench
Calendarize for Effective Time Management
Overrunning something by a few minutes might not seem like a big deal, but in the long run, it is a massive productivity suck when added up on all projects. Calendarizing everything in the workday has proven effective.
Knowing that there are 30 minutes to work on the presentation for Project A before moving on to Project B helps prioritize time and avoid getting bogged down in tiny, minute details that are better handled at another time or by another person down the line. Applying this to every hour of the workday is a highly effective way to keep productivity high.
Dragos Badea
CEO, Yarooms
Improve Productivity With Sprint Planning
My productivity, and the productivity of my entire team, improved significantly ever since we started planning our work in two-week sprints. The Thursday before the sprint starts, we list all the highly important tasks we need to finish in the next two weeks, as well as smaller tasks that need to get done daily.
By doing this, we can better prioritize our days, delegate certain things that we know we can’t finish in the next two weeks, and only focus on tasks that are the best use of our time.
I can’t recommend them enough for productivity for understanding exactly how much time certain projects take, which allows us to prioritize them in the future in case the impact is low versus the time to do them.
Gordana Sretenovic
Co-Founder, Workello ATS
Cultivate Continuous Improvement and Quick Action
Cultivating a culture of continuous improvement within organizations is an effective strategy to enhance productivity. Encouraging team members to actively seek ways to optimize their efficiency and effectiveness can lead to significant productivity gains for the entire team.
A valuable tip for boosting productivity, particularly in the realm of software and information security, is implementing the “two-minute rule” for security and software maintenance tasks. If a task takes two minutes or fewer to complete, it should be tackled immediately instead of being delayed.
This approach prevents small security or maintenance tasks from accumulating and becoming potential vulnerabilities or distractions. Proactivity and focus on more substantial projects maintain a higher level of productivity.
Khurram Mir
Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Kualitatem Inc.
Boost Productivity With Task Delegation Software
A business can improve its productivity by investing in the right tools and technology. One uncommon approach to boost productivity is delegating tasks within a team using technology such as project management software like Trello.
This encourages employees to become more independent in problem-solving, thus freeing up time to focus on higher-priority activities. By enabling others in a team to control certain parts of a project, tracking results with greater accuracy and efficiency is possible.
This also boosts motivation within the team as they feel valued. It has been proven that effective delegation helps create better ideas, which was not possible when all duties were managed by one person alone.
Michael Alexis
CEO, Virtual Team Building
Implement a Performance Management System
Implementing a Performance Management System (PMS) can help streamline operations, monitor employee performance, and set achievable goals. Incorporating a PMS in business operations has brought about improved efficiency and productivity.
It’s a tool that facilitates clear communication and a better understanding of job roles and expectations. It also encourages staff to strive for excellence, knowing their performance is being monitored and rewarded.
Michael Lazar
Executive, ReadyCloud
Regular Goal Review for Productivity
Regular goal review has changed productivity in our company, ZenMaid. We make it a point to set clear goals. More than that, we check our progress daily. This gives us a clear picture of where we stand.
If daily doesn’t work, we go for weekly updates. Or, we set a 48-hour response time. This keeps everyone updated and helps us adjust our strategies on time. It’s a simple practice, but it has made a big difference in our productivity.
Amar Ghose
CEO, ZenMaid
Implement Time-Tracking for Efficiency
Implementing time-tracking was a game-changer for our business. In a short space of time, we could see routine tasks where time was being wasted and productivity was below target.
As a result, we could create processes and implement automation to reduce the time spent on these tasks and improve productivity for individuals and the company.
Tom McCarron
Co-Founder, Algebra Digital
Leverage Cloud-Based Solutions for Productivity
In the digital era, leveraging cloud-based solutions has been pivotal in improving our business productivity. With real-time data access, seamless collaboration, and scalable resources, cloud computing enabled us to operate more efficiently and flexibly.
A key example is our transition to a cloud-based project management tool, which provided a centralized platform for task assignment, progress tracking, and team collaboration. This significantly minimized wasted time and improved our project completion rates.
Burak Özdemir
Founder, Set Alarm Online
Boost Productivity With Pomodoro Technique
One specific strategy that businesses can implement to improve productivity is to encourage and support employee time-management skills. Effective time management can help individuals prioritize tasks, stay focused, and accomplish more in less time.
One time-management technique that has been effective is the Pomodoro Technique. This method breaks work into intervals that are typically 25 minutes long, separated by brief breaks of about 5 minutes. After completing four Pomodoros, a longer break of 15-30 minutes is taken.
This technique helps maintain focus by creating a sense of urgency during work periods and providing brief opportunities for rest and rejuvenation during the breaks. It can be effective in combating distractions and increasing overall productivity, making it very helpful to implement for individuals or teams hoping to improve their productivity.
Trey Ferro
CEO, Spot Pet Insurance
Simplify Processes for Higher Productivity
Even during the start-up phase, it’s easy to over-complicate processes, adding layers, unnecessary sign-offs, or cumbersome workflows. Going back to basics and simplifying processes is key to improving overall productivity.
Recently, I reviewed a client’s entire work process, highlighting unnecessary steps and proposing new job specs. After eliminating convoluted processes and flows, staff could blast through their work.
Not only did productivity increase, but the team also became more engaged and could tackle new projects. Often, simplicity solves low productivity.
Ronald Osborne
Founder, Ronald Osborne Business Consultancy
Improve Efficiency With Time-Blocking Technique
I love using time-blocking because it helps me dedicate different days of the week to certain parts of my business. For example, Mondays are my admin days, meaning I am doing some updates on my website. Tuesdays are my PR days. Wednesdays are my pre-interview days with potential podcast/live-stream guests. Thursday nights are for my pre-recorded podcast guests, and Friday is for my live-stream guests.
I also market throughout the week to keep getting my name out there every day of the week using different automation tools, etc. Time-blocking has helped me manage so many things in my business this year alone that I have finished 60+ projects and tasks ranging from small to big.
Jimmy Clare
Motivational Speaker, Autism Advocate, and Founder, CrazyFitnessGuy
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