Increase Productivity and Grow Your Business

Increase Productivity and Grow Your Business

Increasing productivity and cutting expenses are two keys to boosting your business’s bottom line. If you’ve already cut your budget and eliminated as much waste as possible, the only way to grow your business is to improve productivity.

But before you start looking at ways to change what you do, make sure your methods and goals are clear. The Harvard Business Review says that goals are crucial not just for profits, but for your staff’s morale as well. Employees want to feel like their work matters, and if they have no way to calibrate their achievements it will be difficult to motivate them.

For instance, businesses that sell a product set sales goals so that everyone has a target to aim for. For your business — whether it’s the number of customers’ problems solved, contracts signed, or dollars earned — you must set clear and realistic goals so you can measure your successes.

Business Process Improvement

Once you have delineated the what, you can move on to the how. Streamlining your business processes can save time and money. The best way for your business to achieve this depends on the type of business you run. However, almost any business process can be improved through technology. Remember the world before Mailchimp and DocuSign?

Business process automation solutions are many and varied — do your research and find the best one for your company.

Focus in the Office

Productivity is reliant on many components, but a big one is employees. How can you, as the business manager or owner, cut down on wasted work hours?

One way is through the strategic use of office space. One big room full of desks can be distracting in some businesses, and particularly so if employees have to talk on the phone frequently. It’s hard to work and concentrate if others are talking only feet away from your workspace.

If you don’t have adequate space for your employees to do their jobs, you’re wasting money. Renting office space could be the solution. Two or three smaller rooms can provide your workers with the proximity they need to collaborate and the barriers they need to make phone calls and focus on tasks. Walls and doors make the work environment quieter and more conducive to concentration.

Cut Down on Distractions in Office Space

If your workers don’t deal with the public as part of their jobs — say you have a roomful of computer coders, for instance — a work space with cubicles may be sufficient. Cubicles don’t do much to cut down on noise, but they are helpful in providing a defined space for each worker and a barrier that cuts down on interaction among employees.

It’s good to foster open communication, but too much talk about the local football team or that new bar that just opened can cut into worker productivity.

While some separation in workspaces can be ideal, it’s also helpful to have a space in the office where employees can work together. Meeting rooms are essential for some businesses. These are often larger spaces with one big conference table. However, some types of work require an office space with a different structure. You may have small teams that work together, for instance.

How your office furniture and desks are set up, whether you have a reception and/or waiting area, the size of your conference rooms and the supplies you have at hand can all affect employee productivity.

The Break Room

While business managers don’t want employees whiling away the hours texting friends or chatting, the importance of breaks is critical to performance. According to Entrepreneur.com, productivity increases after a break, regardless of whether it is 30 seconds or two weeks.

It has become common knowledge that successful companies like Google and Amazon encourage employee downtime by putting games like foosball in break rooms. You may not be able to afford to give your employees free lunch and a gym membership like the big guys, but everyone can encourage regular breaks. And you can probably afford to put a box of doughnuts (or some fruit if you are health-conscious) in the break room from time to time.

Metro Offices has options to provide the workspaces you need to improve your business’s productivity. We offer both temporary office space and shared office space. Whether you want a meeting room for an afternoon or a fully equipped workstation for six months, we can help you.

Contact Metro Offices today to learn more about what we have to offer throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Kathlene Buchanan

As the founder of Metro Offices, she has championed workspace innovation since 1989, inspired by the creativity and drive of their 30,000+ clients. Woman-owned and locally focused, the company tailors its spaces to meet the unique needs of every business.

tags: Business Solutions | Office Space