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You might think your team is being as productive as possible during the workday, but between distractions and bad habits, your workplace is likely frittering away countless minutes and hours.

You don’t have to rule with an iron fist to maximize productivity. Instead, you should be trying to cultivate good habits in your team and encouraging them to make the most of their precious time.

Here are a few big time-wasters you should make everyone aware of and develop solutions for.

Emails, Emails, Emails

You might not think constantly check your email account is a big time waster, but research has shown the average worker checks their email 36 times an hour. Multiply that times the number hours spent working, then the number of employees with email access and you get the total time wasted in just one day by your company.

Eliminate this time-waster by pointing it out to employees and letting them know they don’t have to respond to every email right away. You can also designate certain times of the day for your employees to check and answer emails.

Social Media

Unless it is a part of their job description, you shouldn’t be allowing employees to access social media at their desks or workstations. Tell them to save it for lunch, coffee breaks or after work.

Unwieldy To-Do Lists

Whether it’s with a pen and paper or a note-taking app, using to-do lists can be a massive time saver, mainly because it lessens the stress of trying to recall when a meeting is or what you need to pick up after work.

However, bulky, unorganized to-do lists can be overwhelming and become a time-waster. Have employees keep lists short, around two or three items per day. To-do lists should also include the amount time needed to complete each item. A good idea is to connect your to-do lists with a scheduling or calendar program, so employees can start tackling their list first thing in the morning.

Saying “Yes”

While it is always nice to help out others, accepting every request for help or taking on too many optional duties can quickly become overwhelming.

Encourage your staff to be upfront with each other regarding responsibilities and let them know it is OK to turn down requests when they don’t have the time. Also, let them know that you will try to make yourself available for assistance if time allows for it.

Big, Important Projects

It can be tempting to put off working on big, important projects for the latest pressing matter or request for help. However, procrastinating could mean one day finding yourself up against a deadline, and being forced to put all other duties on hold, cutting into your overall productivity.

Be sure your team is staying on schedule with big, important projects. Let workers know that getting big things done on schedule or ahead of schedule is a great way to get ahead.

At Cornerstone Staffing, we support managers by providing both custom staffing solutions and managed services. Please contact us today to let more about how we can help your organization eliminate time-wasters and improve overall productivity.

 

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