What has been observed in a lot of offices across our country today is that many workers seem not to pay adequate attention to their duties, as expected. This has become a source of concern to many people that the issue is worth considering and examining. Workplace productivity has simply been explained to mean the value each team brings to the success of the overall business by measuring the output of individuals or teams to better understand how an organisation can optimise its workflows to bring about enhanced productivity.
According to the management publication, Indeed, the ‘10 Simple Ways To Become More Productive at Work’ include focusing on one task at a time. This is because, when we concentrate on more than one activity at a time, we tend to use more of that time just for transitioning between tasks. This can result in some of the tasks remaining incomplete or being done with less efficiency. Another point is take regular break in the sense that it can be tempting to avoid taking breaks, but neglecting to give oneself allows the room to recharge, may actually contribute to feelings of fatigue and burnout, which can harm our overall productivity.
Focusing on the biggest and most time-consuming tasks before any other assignments can help in staying more focused than if one had worked on smaller and shorter tasks first. This requires giving considering planning schedules so as to focus on these priority tasks at the beginning of work day when mostly on alert and energetic, as these short objectives can be used as milestones to measure progress towards the larger goal. Timing and blocking schedule is to create a visual schedule to help track tasks. It also serves as a way to dedicate oneself to working on one specific task for each block of time, so as to likely complete it within the specified time frame or allotted period.
In addition to scheduling our working time, one may also wish to include break times between each task so as to recharge before moving on to a new task. If there are meetings scheduled throughout the day, there some ways to make these gatherings more productive. Delegating tasks involves assigning some of these tasks to others, if they can be completed while working on other projects. By limiting interruptions, it is possible to consider closing the office door for a portion of workday, or if working in an open-office environment. We can let our colleagues know that there is the need for certain times of the day to unplug from office conversations, but make we sure to continue to schedule office breaks to recharge and reconnect with colleagues, among the prescriptions given by ‘Indeed’.
In the same vein, a university don, Prof. Christian Ikeobi has affirmed that commitment and competence are key to workplace productivity in order to achieve set goals. Ikeobi said productivity deals with the personal values of individual to contribute meaningfully to their workplace, saying commitment would make a member of staff go out of his or her way to get things done. He urged bosses to create the enabling environment for their staff and provide necessary equipment they would work with to boost their productivity, stressing that there should be regular training of staff on how to manage issues. “You cannot have expectations when you’ve not made provision for staff to perform. Bosses should ensure things are in place and appropriate compensation should be given for accidents that happen in the workplace”, he added.
The professor stressed that the onus is on everyone at various levels to do their work diligently and responsibly to get their honest wage, stating that staff assessment should be done periodically and upon meeting expectations, they should be rewarded appropriately. He stated further that communication skills, effective interpersonal skills, good listening and analytical skills, among others, are quality of a good staff, saying that “productivity is measured under a time-frame and ability to guide against wastage of effort and resources”, noting that “everyone deserves to be treated right. Beyond written rules the human face should be brought in to manage staff to accommodate contingencies” while tasking every individual to reflect on whether they are contributing meaningfully to their workplace or not.
In short, what should we do to have enhanced workplace productivity? To begin with, we should focus on one task at a time, then take regular break in the sense that it can be tempting to avoid taking breaks, and we must focus on the biggest and most time-consuming tasks before any other assignments. Furthermore, timing and blocking schedule is vital to creating visual schedule to help track tasks as well as include break times between each task so as to refresh workers before moving on to another task. Delegating tasks is key while limiting undue interruptions on the job, just as the role of commitment and competence to the attainment of workplace productivity cannot be over-emphasised in bid to achieve the set goals and objectives for public and business concerns.
