Seven Practical Steps to Improve Workplace Productivity.

By: PLMitchell

Seven Practical Steps to Improve Workplace Productivity. One of the biggest problems in the workplace is how to increase labor productivity. The secret lies in the leadership of your people. You can make huge capital investments in systems and machinery but unless you provide good leadership then you're never going to release the potential of your people.

This hidden potential is worth a huge amount of profit. The normal way of trying to release this potential is to exhort people to work harder and longer. Yet the secret is to show them how to work smarter. Our tendency is to push people into producing more in the same amount of time. The intelligent leader knows how to pull people so that they do not work harder, just smarter.

When you push people, they push back and resist what you are trying to do. If you take people with you and show them how to work smarter, they go home at the end of the working day feeling much more fulfilled, and not as tired. The steps to take a simple but not always easy. They require thought and consideration as well as a considerable amount of discussion with the employees.

1. Set mutual expectations with your staff. Unless you set mutual expectations with your staff, you are always going to be on the back foot. This means that the only time you can mention expectations is when they're not being fulfilled. By then, it's too late. What do your people expect from you in your leadership position?

2. Agree that they are fair and reasonable. What do you expect from your people? Are your expectations are fair and reasonable? How do you know?

3. Measure current productivity. We are you going to start from? How accurate is your current productivity measure?

4. Set targets Setting targets with your people will involve them in the whole process. It will also give them an opportunity to contribute to, not only the targets, but also the milestones on the way to those targets.

5. Provide visible feedback. This is another high involvement area. Your team needs to work out how their progress is going to be measured, who is going to measure it and how is the feedback going to be presented. Is it going to be daily, or is it going to be weekly?

6. Discuss progress on a regular basis. How is this going to be accomplished? Is it through daily team briefing in the morning? Is it going to be carried out through one-on-one with the manager and supervisors daily? Are the results going to be posted on the notice board and then discussed weekly? The feedback is fundamental to the whole productivity improvement initiative. Without feedback you just won't work.

7. Celebrate milestones and achievements. Work out with your team how you are going to celebrate each milestone. Arrange this in advance so there is a sense of anticipation. Whatever happens, never let the pressure of work postpone such an important occasion.

Peter Mitchell has been an adviser to businesses of all sizes and types for the last 35 years. He has used all his experience to write a step-by-step guide for business owners and mangers which is complimentary. If you download this guide, you are eligible to buy his latest book "The Key to Productivity"at a special price for a limited time.

It is available NOW at http://www.thekeytoproductivity.com

About the Author

Peter Mitchell has 35 years of experience successfully managing and owning businesses. He strongly believes that increasing workplace productivity through staff is the most cost effective way of increasing and maintaining profits. He is the author of two books and countless articles.