Best Ways to Improve Employee Productivity

Productive individuals emerge due to their abnormally extraordinary hard working attitudes. They are not placated with being average, they are better than expected.In any case, what the vast majority don’t understand is that not all productive people are savvier, more skilled or all the more dedicated. Here and there, their insider facts lie in simply being okay in sorting out their life. They find themselves able to set aside a few minutes, in this manner permitting them the benefit of working easily, with no issues.

So how does one turn out to be more productive? Here are some suggestions.

Track time to improve your time management

Sometimes simple solutions work best. To increase employee efficiency it is good to measure it somehow. And among many ways to do it, time tracking apps seem to be the most effective.

How to choose the best time tracking app?

These times it’s challenging to find the perfect time tracking app from all the tools available on the market. More and more apps appear and staying on top of the latest news in the time tracking sector can be a real headache. And even though similar, every app is different so it gets even more complicated.

So when you’re looking for the best time tracking apps for your company, you should remember that it should meet your business needs, have a good onboarding program, increase employee productivity, and have the features you really need.

TimeCamp – time tracker that helps you improve employee productivity

timecamp website screenshot

TimeCamp is a specialized software designed for monitoring and optimizing the efficiency of your office or remote employees. The software can help increase employee productivity in your company by even more than 30%.

You can add as many tasks as you want to the interface and choose one whenever you feel like doing it or leave it to the intelligent system that assigns tasks automatically. TimeCamp will track the time of your activity and you will receive a comprehensive graph from which you will learn what you or the member of your team were doing, how much time it took, and what “distractions” got in the way, which is a great method to eliminate them once and for all.

Here’s what TimeCamp can do:

Comes with a wide range of platforms. The tool is available as time tracking apps for desktop (Windows, Mac, and Linux), and has native mobile apps available for iOS and Android to help users track their time regardless of location. There’s also a browser extension.
Automatically records time usage of each application running on your computer, URLs, and documents to monitor your valuable time at work and check employee performance
Easy budgeting – budgeting function lets you estimate how much time the implementation of individual projects will take, and thus effectively plan the use of human resources and make proper estimates of future similar projects
70+ integrations with popular project management software such as Trello, Jira, Monday.com, Asana
Measures the working time by particular categories
Idle time detection – detects when the user ceased to be active and for how long it lasted
Automatic time tracking with one-click timer
GPS tracking
You can set billable and non-billable rates
Turn time entries into invoices

Pricing:

Free – $0 for unlimited users
Basic – $7.99 per user per month ($6.99 billed annually)
Pro – $10.99 per user per month ($9.99 billed annually)
Enterprise – custom pricing

Get to know where your time goes with TimeCamp!

Track time in projects and tasks, create reports, and bill your clients in just one tool.

Manage stress at the workplace to improve employee performance

How do you feel about your work? Are you happy to get up early every morning to another pile of documentation and eagerly perform the paperwork, with a big smile on your face? Let’s be honest – there are relatively few people who actually love what they do and have a stress-free life. That’s why it’s so important to encourage employees to take care of the company’s culture.

manage stress at work

Every work causes stress. This has been known for ages. And in times of high urbanization and fast technological progress, things happen much faster than they used to, especially at work. That doesn’t favor employees’ stress levels and can affect productivity. Research conducted by the American Institute of Stress (AIS) shows that the majority of the respondents (46%) point to workload as the main source of stress, whereas 6% to the lack of job security, and 20% to juggling work with personal lives. Overall, only 28% of respondents quote people issues to be the main problem of stress, whereas 72% claim it’s work! The numbers don’t lie, stress at work is a huge factor. And what business leaders should do to achieve business growth is to take care of stress to keep work efficiency at a high level.

How to relax at work?

Yoga at desk

A lot of professions require sitting at a desk most of the time. Such a position affects our backs and, generally bones, negatively when staying too much time in it. It could decrease employee morale and in the end – productivity in the workplace. But here comes the first idea on how to calm down more at work – stretching!

Physical exercises, especially yoga, which becomes more and more popular last time, have a blessing effect on our bodies, tired of sitting for a few hours straight:

improve blood flow pressure, lowering it to the acceptable rates,
improve the blood supply of the brain and affects the thinking processes positively,
stretch the muscles and reduce pain caused by sitting position,
soothe headaches.
free us from stress because they affect the body and the mind (a least for a moment).

A few months ago, we recommended to you some of the easy yet satisfying yoga positions. Give them a try, exercise, and find out how they can help you relax throughout the day!

Going for a walk

At work, breaks for many employees usually take 15 minutes to half an hour. It’s a perfect timeframe for a short walk, e.g., around the place we’re working in (or living in, when it comes to remote workers). We need to breathe, and sitting 8 hours straight in the same room doesn’t favor it. Going outside, and taking a solid inhale of fresh air is relaxing, calms the mind, and reduces stress. There is only one condition: smoking isn’t allowed, so don’t even try to ask your co-workers if it’s time for a smoke ;).

Closing eyes and calming the mind

Yes, you don’t have to do something complicated or require high activity to reduce work-related stress and maintain high productivity. One of the proven ways to relax for every employee (no matter if it’s in the office or the private environment) is meditation. Even if finding a quiet place for relaxation in your company is unreachable, put your earphones on, play your favorite music, and just close your eyes as long as the situation allows.

Massage your temples or scalp a bit. Don’t think about work-related issues; try to focus on something that makes you happy and pleases you. It could require more training to focus, but the effects can be outstanding in increasing employee productivity. Chill out your body a bit – who knows if the break will turn into a little mind-refreshing nap? That is definitely a thing worth including in your company culture.

Playrooms/ workout rooms at work

Many employers invest some money in creating open-space playrooms to fight poor employee productivity by making the work environment more friendly. Usually, it’s quiet, but sometimes chill-out music plays there. There are usually two types of these spaces:

with natural light, fitted with exercise equipment for workouts,
mind-relax oriented, packed with board games and amusement machines or places for taking a nap.

No matter the type, having this kind of space in the company is somewhat pleasurable and can increase employee engagement. It allows us to calm down and holds the team together, being a place for casual conversations for every team member. Recovering in the playroom also prevents bothering co-workers – lying at the desk during working hours might be misunderstood. Additionally, complementing these physical spaces with modern employee engagement platforms further amplifies the sense of community and connection among team members.

Chatting with teammates

Spending so many hours at work with other employees can be too much for many of us, so it’s understandable sometimes we’re not into making stronger bonds with them. But talking about work-related issues only and sharing company news doesn’t allow us to find out our co-workers’ real nature which is helpful to achieve effective communication. During the coffee break, try to join the conversation to get to know them better – who knows, maybe they share your passions, and you’ll find a soulmate there.

team chat

Playing with pets to improve productivity

It’s scientifically proven that spending time with animals affects mood positively. This kind of amusement significantly reduces stress and changes our life attitude so it can be helpful to restore lost productivity. Petting a dog or a cat makes us calm and relaxed, brings down anxiety, and helps keep employees motivated. Many companies allow bringing our pets to work with us. There is also a special date for this occasion: National Take Your Dog to Work Day. There’s also a hashtag for it: #takeyourdogtoworkday if you might want to share it on Instagram or Twitter.

Remote employees are in an even better position! They can always take their pets to work and enjoy their soothing companion going for a walk or playing with them in their free time.

Or, if you don’t own a cat or a dog, try watching the funny videos with them at least. Luckily, YouTube is full of amusing content!

Use simple tips to increase employee productivity

Most productive employees emerge due to their abnormally extraordinary hard-working attitudes. They are not placated with being average, they are better than expected. One such application of this productivity comes when they have to deal with the task of everyday meals. Services like HelloFresh come in handy at such times, offering simple solutions to prepare delicious home-cooked meals, thus freeing up more time for their work without compromising on nourishment and taste.
In any case, what the vast majority don’t understand is that not all productive people are savvier, more skilled, or all the more dedicated. Here and there, their insider facts lie in simply being okay in sorting out their life. They find themselves able to set aside a few minutes, permitting them the benefit of working easily, with no issues.

Below are four simple, but quite useful tips that will help you to increase productivity. Give them a try and go for greater productivity with your employees!

Organize Your Private Working Space

This is not a coincidence that a huge number of remote employees pick a room in their house that they turn into a cabinet that they use only for working purposes.

It’s not a myth that our surroundings have an effect on our operational efficiency, productivity, and workflow. If you are working from home try and find a place that you will associate only with work. This way, it will be much easier for you to complete your own tasks once you get there. Also, keep the place neat and clean – it can help you to achieve higher productivity.

Know What to do With Your Time.

Try to be as specific about the tasks you are about to perform, as possible. Divide your schedule into ‘blocks’ and always try to focus on a particular activity. For example, if you are supposed to write an article and you assigned 3 hours of your working time to this task, divide it into 3 stages. Before you start to write prepare for 30 minutes, make sure you have all the necessary material, links, and right tools, then write for about 2 hours and use the remaining 30 minutes to double-check and proofread your article. You can even explore some professional thesis writing service to make sure your content is well-written. Move on with this method to those tasks that you can never start, like writing a book or getting fit – instead of telling yourself “tomorrow I will go for a run”, write in your schedule “Wednesday 8.00-9.00 Time for a run”. It’s simple but surprisingly helpful in improving employee productivity.

Remember that TimeCamp is a great app that can help your company keep better control of the time spent on tasks and team’s productivity. Sign up for free here.

black, calendar, close-up

Get Rid of Distractions

Easier said than done. Nowadays we are being bombed with all sorts of things that won’t let us focus on the task – mobile devices, social media, click baits, and dozens of other distractions that have only one purpose – to turn our attention away from the duties that must be completed. More and more people have problems with procrastination, especially during remote work, and the so-called cyberslacking (when employees wander around the web instead of working) costs companies billions each year by decreasing employee efficiency.

If you find it hard to focus with all the distractions around, you have to take certain measures. Put your mobile phone away and use it only when necessary, turn down all social media notifications, and don’t use anything besides internal tools necessary for your work. It might sound simple but it can increase employee productivity significantly.

Set Regular Working Hours

Working hours can influence employees’ productivity in many ways. For those employees, who work at the office and don’t have flexible working hours, this advice won’t be too much of use. It may be easier for them to keep high productivity, as they always know that they’ll be at the company office from f.e. 5 to 9, and they can plan the rest of their day accordingly.

However, if employees work from home, it is easier for them to get pulled away from tedious tasks for any reason. Like, when you decide that the apartment needs cleaning, or that you have to do the groceries, or play with the dog, whatever. The fact is that you should always prioritize work and task requirements. After all, the sooner you finish it, the more time you will have to spend on those activities that bring you joy!

blueprints, entrepreneur, hands

Summing Up

The tips described above are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to boosting productivity in your company. But it’s best to start slowly, and later move on to the more demanding techniques. Try them out and tell us what you think!

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Maksymilian Kujawa

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