5 Full-Proof Productivity Tips for Entrepreneurs

Starting a new business is a time-consuming process that demands your full commitment, effort, and energy. Once you successfully overcome all the obstacles and build a solid business that is still growing, you’ll face the challenge of maintaining productivity high while managing a large number of people.

And leading a growing company is a completely different playing field, demanding some effective solutions. Namely, this will involve dealing with a massive workload while trying to coordinate the work of numerous teams, ensuring they work together to reach set goals. 

Just thinking about possible mistakes and issues that may appear in this process can be overwhelming, let alone having to face them. But, the truth is that productivity shortcomings and time lost can accumulate along the way and have a devastating impact on larger teams over time. 

Even though these prospects may look grim, you can tackle these productivity issues by applying some of the tips we’ve prepared. Let’s not waste time then and get straight to the point.

Increase Productivity Using Employee Monitoring Software

Using a productivity tracker, as a kind of a PC activity monitor may boost team performance and improve your time and project management. Of course, you need to use this monitoring tool transparently to make the best of it.

By tracking time and monitoring employees’ activities, you’ll be able to see what their strong sides are, as well as what tasks they may struggle with. You’ll also get an insight into their Internet usage, showing you how they spend their time online. All this information will help you delegate tasks better making necessary changes in real-time. Furthermore, you can use collected data to reward hard workers and provide support for those who fall behind. 

Set Reasonable Deadlines and Stick to Them

When running a growing business, meeting set deadlines and finishing projects on time is a must. By continually delivering results on time, you’ll keep your clients happy and come across as a reliable and trustworthy partner. Also, setting deadlines is a proven way to boost productivity.

Bear in mind, though, that if you want to enhance productivity your deadlines need to be reasonable and well-balanced, otherwise the whole idea may backfire. Namely, setting tight deadlines to make employees work harder will only stress them out. They’ll start making mistakes chasing the deadline, compromising the quality of their work and the success of the entire project. 

On the other hand, if you take deadlines loosely, giving employees more than enough time to finish specific tasks, they may not take things seriously, waiting for the last minute to finish their job. This said, try defining the ideal amount of time necessary for specific tasks, that won’t lead your employees to burnout or procrastination. 

Defining clear expectations and deadlines will motivate employees to do their best and reach set goals.

Try to Create Distraction-Free Workplace

This may seem like a tall order, especially with the social media temptations all around us, but keeping various distractions to a minimum may do wonders for productivity. Productivity tracking software can show you what apps and websites your employees use during work hours. So you’ll be able to see whether frequent visits to unproductive sites, like social media feeds, interfere with their workflow and productivity, and take action on the spot. 

You can use an app blocker to ban unproductive apps from the company’s computers, but this may not be the best idea. Instead of completely eliminating social media, try limiting their use during breaks only. This small compromise may go a long way when it comes to productivity and keeping your employees happy.

Avoid Unnecessary Meetings

We know that meetings are important if you want to keep open communication with your team. They’re also necessary to brief employees about new developments or your company reaching a significant milestone. However, hosting unnecessary meetings without clear reasons, or results will just waste your time and money. So, before you set up another team meeting, ask yourself the following questions:

• Can this issue be dealt with via email or a private message?
• Is this issue too complex that it requires face-to-face communication?
• Will my team learn something from this meeting?

If your answers are negative, then this meeting is unnecessary and unproductive, and you should avoid having it.

Strive for Excellence Not Perfection

It’s a corny phrase, but we have to remind you that perfection doesn’t exist and nobody expects you to be perfect in every part of your business. Instead of chasing perfect communication, workflow, or performance, try using some of these tips to motivate your employees to give their best and reach set goals, delivering excellent results.