Productivity in the office is vital but it can be a difficult skill to teach and reinforce. What employers want is a workforce where employees successfully get their work completed, adding value to the business to increase profitability. However, reaching that level of productivity takes the willingness of a manager or supervisor to create a comfortable and understanding work environment. It's impossible to force your employees to work harder, and pushing strict rules can actually hurt productivity and morale more than it helps. It's important for employers to work with their employees and take steps to ensure that everyone is working hard, and is happy to do so.

Provide Feedback

For employees to work at full capacity and perform at the highest level, there needs to be clear and concise feedback so they know they are doing their job as effectively as possible. Sit down and work with employees to help them develop their strengths and tackle any areas of improvement. Remember to give constructive assistance that offers value on both sides of the spectrum for better understanding and quality improvement. This action will help eliminate frustrated employees who feel they may not be doing the work properly but don't know what they are doing wrong. Working together will help improve the overall workforce as well as incorporate a more comfortable atmosphere for employees to ask for assistance.

Give Employees Ownership

Incorporate employees into certain tasks and scheduling processes that give them a say in the workplace. By using scheduling software, employees are empowered to manage their own schedules, request time off, view overtime, participate in shift bidding, and many other activities with access available through their smart phones. Employees will enjoy the capability of having a say in their schedules, as well as having a more organized way of swapping or picking up shifts. This automation cuts the time it takes to make scheduling adjustments by more than half. It also enhances and consolidates communication between managers and employees. These minor improvements go a long way in helping a workforce to become more productive with their primary job responsibilities.

Eliminate Micromanagement

The need to constantly control the situation to ensure the best work will actually tarnish morale and make employees less willing to put in the effort. Often, micromanaging stems from a manager that sees an employee struggling and wants to help. However, the constant interruptions and negative critiques make the worker feel they have failed and are unable to succeed no matter what they do. Micromanaging suppresses an employee's desire to innovate, which leads to resentment and frustration. Providing constructive feedback and allowing employees to come up with new ways to do their jobs more effectively can substantially increase productivity.

Offer Flexible Schedules

Incorporating flexible hours allows each staff member take advantage of the time of day where they are most productive. They'll appreciate having the opportunity to be working in the way that best suits them and the company. Implementing flexible hours and shifts can be made easy with scheduling software that is customized to the way you do business.

Promote Friendly Communication

As people work in their specific departments, it can be difficult to meet other employees in different areas of the company. However, encouraging the entire staff to get to know one another will facilitate a more productive environment when various departments have to work together on a project or task. Promote friendly communication to improve employee's working relationships by having "fun meetings" where people can chat and get to know one another. You can also have a quarterly or annual workplace outing for employees to interact. Give employees the opportunity to get to know each other and you will be promoting teamwork- and productivity- in your workforce.

If you want to maximize productivity and efficiency, download the complete guide of work scheduling below.