Productivity and efficiency are the handmaidens of any smooth-sailing company ship, whether that ship sells novelty bicycle horns or high-end custom kitchen cabinets. When you and your employees are efficient in your work, productivity goes up, which increases your bottom line and job satisfaction with you, your team and yourself. But wrenches can get thrown into even the most well-oiled spokes, making your productivity aims seem unreachable. If you and your team have been less productive of late, it may be time to take a look at your own management style. Here are nine common ways bosses and managers sabotage their employees’ productivity.
Bottlenecking Work
Finding ways to increase efficiency and productivity is part of your daily to-do list. So, why are you bottlenecking work at every turn? If you have to approve the minute details of every project your team is working on, you’re keeping your employees from pushing work forward and delivering products. In short, you’re shackling their efforts. Trust your employees to make routine decisions within the scope of their work, and productivity will increase.
Not Delegating
If you’re trying to keep a hold of every project so that your team can only help you with it, you’re hamstringing your staff. Delegating work, projects, clients and more all requires you to put the faith you claim you have in your employees into action, and when you do it — there may be growing pains — but you’ll all get more work done.
Multitasking, and Expecting Your Team to Do the Same
Multitasking is still viewed by many people as the Holy Grail of work productivity, but what it actually does is scatter your focus so that you’re less efficient. Especially when tasks are complicated and unfamiliar, multitasking results in less productivity, because mentally switching between tasks requires so much effort. If you’re a multi-tasker, stop, and encourage your team to stop multitasking, too. The added focus will have everyone’s gears spinning more freely so that more and better work can get done.
Being Unclear in Expectations
Nothing hampers productivity like unclear expectations. Your employees need clearly stated and measurable goals to guide them in their work, or they’re likely to end up off-base. Even good employees will fail to achieve what you expect from them if they don’t fully understand what is needed. Communicate early and often, and make sure that speaking and listening is a two-way street, so your employees and you all know you’re on the same page.
Not Giving Feedback — Positive or Negative
Feedback allows your employees to adjust the work they’re doing to more efficiently meet demands or to keep doing it the way they are. If you’re fed up with the sluggish nature of an employee’s work, consider giving more feedback on a regular basis. While negativity isn’t likely to turn things around, constructive criticism that’s offered in an encouraging way can help a well-meaning employee get back on track. And for those employees who are routinely doing an excellent job? They need to be told so that their positive behavior is reinforced.
Not Being Flexible
Flexibility — whether offered through flex time or telecommuting options — can actually lead to a more productive workforce. Working from home allows an employee with a cold to still get some work done, and flex time means a doctor’s appointment won’t have to result in anyone taking a personal day. Adding flexibility into your work culture will get more hours out of your staff.
Demanding Doctor’s Notes for Sick Days
Because not all sicknesses need a doctor, it’s absurd to require employees to get a doctor’s note in order to take a sick day. Demanding doctor’s notes means more sick employees will come to work and get other employees ill, while performing poorly and taking more time to recover. It’s an ideal recipe for inefficiency.
Too Many Meetings
How many meetings do you and your employees attend in a given week? Are they all essential, or do they merely stop work in progress? Good work takes solid concentration, and employees who have to get up and down numerous times a day to attend or lead meetings will be less focused and less productive. Pare down your nonessential meetings so you and your team can work without interruption.
Demanding Perfection
Human beings aren’t perfect, and human workers will make mistakes. If the atmosphere at your company is one where employees are afraid to err, the chances are good that they spend too much time double-checking their work to be meaningfully productive. Loosen up a little, and let employees know that mistakes can be rectified and nobody’s perfect.
Employee productivity can be the boon or the bane of your work existence. Keep away from these nine productivity killers and your employees will be more efficient, more productive, and they’ll enjoy their work more, too.
