Are you looking for ways to increase productivity as a small business owner? Here are 37 small business productivity tips to help you increase productivity in your business.
When you own your own business, making sure that you can run things as smoothly and efficiently as possible needs to be a constant priority.
Having the right tools in place to help with this can end up making a world of difference.
It’s therefore important that you and your employees stay on track.
From these 37 small business productivity tips, you will find different techniques and strategies that you can use to help encourage productivity in your workplace.
Make sure you keep them in mind so that you can start turning your business into a well-oiled machine today.
37 Small Business Productivity Tips
Start Every Day With A Plan
One of the most important things that you can do as a business owner is to walk into your office every single day with a plan.
Preparing a lined out daily schedule will help you stay on top of what you need to get done.
Seeing you working to your highest capacity will motivate your employees to try their hardest every single day.
Give Employees Priorities
Creating a list of goals with specific prioritized tasks for your staff can help ensure that they stay on track at every moment.
When people have visual goals laid out in front of them to achieve, they are much more likely to work towards those goals effectively
By giving employees specific priorities, you’ll be guaranteeing that they stay productive.
Set Realistic Goals
In trying to encourage both employees and yourself to reach for the stars, things can actually end up backfiring.
Thus, setting realistic and achievable daily goals will help keep staff motivated and encouraged.
Having a feeling of defeat even before they start will give them reasons not to try.
Employees will work hard and take care of things as quickly as possible when given tasks within their reach.
Really Work, Don’t “Work”
One of the worst things that a business owner can do is go into their office prepared to work, and ending up “working.”
This means that they’ll spend a bulk amount of their time chatting with other employees or stopping what they’re doing to check their twitter feeds.
You and those around you will accomplish great works when you’re not using valuable time for unnecessary tasks.
Block Out Distractions
One way to be more productive is to first take away those things that distract you.
Of course, this is different for everyone.
Some people might have a hard time putting down their phones, while others might spend hours flipping through YouTube videos or social media sites.
Save yourself a ton of time by identifying your main distractions and blocking them out completely from the workday.
Block Certain Sites
Unfortunately, some people simply don’t have the strength to completely stop themselves from looking at their distractions, including the business owners themselves.
In order to make sure that you can guarantee productivity, use your administrative authority to block certain sites from being accessed within your business.
This is really the only way to ensure that you don’t lose valuable time scrolling through your feeds for hours on end.
Find What Isn’t Working
Sometimes, even what sounds like the best idea can end up failing miserably.
Being able to find the areas of your business that simply aren’t producing as they should be and making the necessary changes or even eliminating the factor completely can allow you to utilize the skills of your employees in other ways, letting everyone be more productive on a daily basis.
Start The Day With The Biggest Challenges
When it comes to figuring out how to organize your day, make sure that you put the biggest, most time consuming challenges at the start.
Often times, workers and employers become tired and less productive as the day goes on.
Take advantage of your most dedicated and motivated hours by setting your biggest tasks for the first few hours of the day, letting you focus on less important and intensive things later on.
Make Your Plans For The Next Day
When your day is coming to a close, something you always want to do is set up a well-organized plan for the following day.
Not only will this help you to be organized from the get-go.
But you’ll be able to walk into the office already aware of what needs to be done.
This will help you get straight to work from the very first minute, rather than wasting time wandering around.
Stop Trying To Multitask
Even if you feel like you’re the best multitasker in the world, multitasking can lead to avoiding the commitment to accomplishing any one thing.
Rather than focusing your mind on four or five different tasks at once, set yourself a limit of one or two things.
This will help keep you focused and driven, rather than spreading yourself needlessly apart.
Know When To Say No
All business owners, especially when they’re first starting out, want their employees and clients to feel motivated and encouraged.
This gives them the confidence to constantly put forth ideas that they think would help improve the quality of your business.
However, not all of these ideas are actually worth your time, and it’s important that you quickly learn to say no when it counts.
Don’t over work yourself.
Make sure that you’re making the best decisions for your business at all times.
Stop Using Perfection As An Excuse For Procrastination
Of course, you want your business to be as perfect as it can be, but sometimes perfection is a great excuse for procrastination.
Perfection is the ultimate unrealistic goal, and trying to live up to those expectations can leave employees feeling unmotivated and uncaring.
Make sure that you keep things within that achievable range so that they really dedicate themselves to their work, rather than putting it off hour after hour and day after day.
Motivate With A New Launch
Another great way to motivate your employees is to create a new launch or marketing scheme.
When your employees have a specific goal in mind, they’ll be much more likely to strive to make it the best possible so that they can take pride in what they were able to accomplish.
Use The Right Technology
In this day and age, the technology that business owners decide to use can be as important as the employees themselves.
Finding the right technology to fit your needs and putting it to good use, whether that be projectors for staff meetings or Ipads to help streamline sales, can end up helping keep your staff at the most productive you’ve ever seen.
Make Use Of The Cloud
One of the most important technological advances that business owners can take advantage of would be the cloud.
By converting your business to a cloud based organization system, you’ll be giving yourself and your employees access to whatever they need whenever they need it.
Not only will it help keep the office organized by eliminating paper storage, but it will also make important files and documents easy for everyone to get ahold of.
This is particularly important for businesses that work on and off-site as well as teams that work remotely.
This system can be a lifesaver.
Automate Everything You Can
Owning your own business can leave you feeling like you have to take care of every little thing.
But this can make you achieve very little due to being pulled in so many different directions.
By using programs that can help automate things like marketing emails and social media posts, you’ll be able to save yourself a significant amount of time.
Use Freelancers
There are sure to be things that you don’t want automated with a computer, but that you still feel could be handled by someone else.
Taking advantage of the recent surge in quality freelancers could be the perfect solution in these situations.
These educated and qualified professionals can give you world-class care for a much lower price point.
Find freelancing sites to find an expert to help you with website maintenance, blogging, or even accounting, all of which will help make your life easier.
Save Time By Answering Calls Immediately
No doubt, people hate being interrupted when they’re in the middle of an important task.
However, leaving calls to later in the day can actually take up a large amount of time.
Instead, consider answering client calls right away so that you can give your clients the attention that they deserve, and keep things short, simple, and to the point.
Make A FAQs Page
One of the biggest wastes of time for both business owners and employees is having to explain the same thing over and over again.
You can eliminate a bulk amount of unnecessary calls by creating a well organized and thorough FAQs page on your website
This will help you to save tons of time on a daily basis.
Take Advantage Of Emails
Another great way to save yourself time when it comes to communication is by encouraging clients to use email in order to get in touch with you.
Not only will this allow you to get back to them when you have a free moment, but you can use specialized software to remind you about emails that you haven’t answered.
No more having to deal with angry clients who didn’t hear back from you.
Invest In Spam Filters
If you’re worried about important emails being lost in the flood of constant emails being sent your way, investing in a quality Spam filter will be a great solution.
These programs have been developed to eliminate unwanted trash emails and immediately send through anything from a client or another business.
Don’t overwhelm yourself by dealing with thousands of emails a day.
Create Staff Chat Rooms
Another way to eliminate a large number of emails is to encourage employees to communicate through chat rooms.
When you set up a group messaging system, you can keep all communications neatly organized in one space that everyone can access.
Let your email stay centered on clients, competition, and partners.
Make A List Of Tasks For Downtime
One great way to save yourself time and get things accomplished is to make a list of smaller, easily accomplished tasks that you can take care of during downtime.
Placing these things on some sort of reminder page can let you check them off your list quickly.
Don’t let them pile up until they become a hassle.
Make A Goal List For Staff Meetings
All too often do business owners find themselves wasting time in what’s meant to be a productive staff meeting.
By creating a list and placing it somewhere in view of the entire room, you’ll be able to keep everyone on track.
Plan For 15 Minutes Between Tasks
When you’re scheduling out your day, it’s important to remember that distractions or complications are bound to occur at one point or another.
By adding 15 minutes in between each and every task, you can end up saving yourself significantly by having allotted your time correctly.
Keep things on schedule by preparing for delays ahead of time.
Allow Flexible Work Schedules
When people are able to create schedules that work around their lives, they’re much more likely to provide you with quality dedicated work while they’re in the office.
Give people the option to work hours that work for them, and get the most out of every employee.
Treat the Staff To Something Fun And Team Building
By offering your staff a fun, creative, and team building experience every once in a while, you’ll be helping to promote a motivating environment in the office.
The more that people are able to trust and believe in one another, the more likely they’ll be to work hard together towards a common goal.
Consider A Weekly Shared Meal
One great way to encourage camaraderie in your team is by offering a weekly shared meal where they can relax and bond with one another outside of the office.
Bring them all down for an after work drink or a fun meal at the local pizza joint.
Wherever you choose to enjoy each other’s company, you’re sure to have a great time.
Let Employees Get Creative
When you allow employees to explore different areas and come up with new ideas in a safe environment, they’ll keep a certain spark of enthusiasm that is contagious.
Embrace your employee’s creativity when it comes to different solutions or products.
That way, everyone can feel like their input matters.
Encourage A Good Night’s Sleep
When you or your staff are working on half empty, you’re almost guaranteed to be unmotivated and unproductive.
Getting a good night’s sleep is a great way to ensure everyone is on track throughout the day.
Have A Reordering Checklist
Another great way to keep things on track is by making sure that you and your staff have access to whatever you need, whenever you need it.
Put up a reordering checklist in the stockroom, and have employees place a checkmark next to an item when they see it’s getting low.
This will make it easy for you to know what you need to order and when.
Stay Neat And Tidy
Keeping your office space organized is a great way to encourage productivity.
When you’re trying to work in a messy and overflowing area, you’re much more likely to be distracted and get sidetracked.
Keep yourself and your staff on point by having everything in its place at all times.
Keep Used Items In Arms Reach
Another great way to save yourself time is by having your most used items within an arm’s reach at any given moment.
Keep things like staplers, pens, and calculators all at your desk so that you don’t have to search through every cabinet in your office every time you need them.
Comfort Can Make A Difference
While you certainly don’t want yourself or your employees falling asleep at the office, having them work in comfortable conditions can actually make them more productive.
Feeling out of sorts or uncomfortable can lead to them being distracted when they are looking for some type of relief.
Keep them focused and productive by investing in things like quality desk chairs or sofas.
Use Schedules That Work For You
If you’re finding it difficult to set up a schedule that works, take the time to find a respected technique that’s been proven to work.
Something like the Pomodoro technique, which works on a 25 minute work and 5 minute break schedule, might be great if you find yourself losing focus quickly.
Schedule Online Maintenance
In this day and age, having a quality online presence is essential to any successful business.
However, this level of importance can sometimes lead business owners to a position of obsession.
Instead of wasting time and checking your social media stats and website hits needlessly every hour, make a scheduled visit three or four times a week to check how things are running.
Know When To Switch Off
One of the most important factors in staying productive is knowing how and when it’s time to turn off.
Trying to stay constantly in work mode can actually end up causing you to be oversaturated and overwhelmed, and this will cause you to mentally shut down when you’re most needed.
Instead, recognize when you need a break so that you can take a few minutes, regather yourself, and get right back to work.
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