Office Productivity: 23 Effective Ways to Improve

Any business knows that productivity is key to growth, let alone staying afloat. Whether you are talking about a production line, a traveling salesperson, and yes even your office space; productivity is going to be the main driving factor that will allow your business to not only stay in business but also experience growth year over year, month over month.

Here we are going to describe 23 ways to boost & improve office productivity & performance which will in turn allow you to realize higher profits, more output, and less money being wasted on lost productivity & performance.

First on the list? Improving office productivity through computer applications:

1. Productivity Applications for the Office

Let us start the list off with one of the easiest ways to get started with improving office productivity in the office through applications.

While every department and even individuals may require a different application, get some office productivity software applications for certain tasks that will make others’ jobs easier. This will help them to get more done and not waste time on tasks that could be better solved through technology.

For example, the marketing department may need a tool to help them analyze the market. Or the support team might find relief through a program that makes support easier for them. On top of all that, typical organization and file-sharing tools can make everyone’s life easier with everyone’s day-to-day tasks. And as for the popular Excel tool, make sure everyone has the proper training to use it.

2. Develop a “Nightly Routine” for Work

Okay. We don’t require that employees go home and plan out their next day. Instead, we are suggesting that you allot just 10 to 15 minutes at the end of each person’s day to allow for planning for the day to come.

This will allow people to get everything off their minds and avoid forgetting things. This also has the benefit of allowing your employees to go home, get their minds off work, and come back feeling much more refreshed the next day. On top of this, it allows everyone to set and possess clear objectives for each day instead of coming in and trying to figure out then what they should be working on.

3. Allow for More Breaks

Science proves that taking more breaks can increase productive output.

How does that work if we technically will have less “work time” by taking all these breaks?

It gives us time to collect our thoughts, time to let our minds roam, and even a moment to talk and bounce ideas off others. It’s important to understand that increased time spent working does not necessarily equal increased productivity. Don’t work harder, work smarter!

So, instead of making employees hate working because you limit them to one break a day; let them take a short one every hour or two and watch the ideas and productivity outputs increase!

4. Clean up – Everywhere

Not only should you be organizing your desk, but also the entire office.

A cleaned-out area allows for a clear mind to work at much higher levels of clarity. Whether you have a cubical office design or a more open concept, requiring all areas of the office to be clean on either a weekly or daily basis should be a must.

Sure, not everyone likes to clean. But if you give employees 10-15 minutes to clean their area at the end of every day I’m sure most people will be happy to do so (especially if you explain it is part of your initiative to improve productivity in the office)!

5. Schedule in Time for Emails

Some people have a habit of checking their email every 10 minutes while they are waiting for someone important to get back to them.

In reality, the likelihood of them replying right away even if you get back to them quickly is slim. On top of that, it seems downright desperate.

By implementing 2-3 time periods (again, depending on the department) that people should check their email; you will end the constant refreshing of email pages by a lot of your workforce. This allows people to get back to work and pay much more attention to their work at hand.

6. Upgrade Your Lights

There can be multiple things wrong with your lighting system that might be throwing off people in the office.

First of all, if you have fluorescent lights then you might just have a few (or a lot) of lights in your office that flicker or even worse, buzz. This can cause eye stress, annoyance, and a general distraction.

On top of that, you may have either an under-lit or over-lit office. Both are bad, and it’s up to you to find the optimal light output for your office. This can be done by surveying employees on your lighting system and going from there. One tip, you can control your light levels by using a dimmer switch. It will also lower your lighting bills. In fact, read here how LED Lights can pay for themselves.

Lastly, low-quality light can be an issue. An easy way to not only improve the quality of light but also get rid of flickering and buzzing light issues is by upgrading your office lighting system to LED. This will not only get rid of all of your problems related to your lights, but since LEDs are so efficient, they will additionally reduce your energy usage by up to 30% or so. Sounds like a win-win situation here!

7. Add Plants

Want to increase productivity and happiness throughout your office?

Do you have limited window views to the outside world? Or even worse, do you overlook a highway with no plants in sight?

Planting some beautiful plants around the office can be a great way to boost the vibes in your office, and thus the effectiveness of the work you output.

Not only will they help with productivity, but they will also clean the air of toxins which will keep the air fresh and not-so-stuffy.

8. Rearrange the Office

Stop making it so difficult to get around. Make it easy to get to the bathroom, to the trash, or even to an outlet.

Time is money, and if people are having to spend time just to get to the most basic things, you aren’t setting up your office for success (literally).

Using office design to increase productivity can be difficult for sure. But it doesn’t have to be all that complex. You could even get some people together to brainstorm what could be done to best optimize the space you have to best serve efficiency in the office. So, while there will never be the “best office design for productivity” hack or tip (due to all offices being different), you can always use some general guidelines and common sense to help you out.

9. Cut down on the Noise

Wherever the noise may be coming from, while it may not affect everyone, it may be affecting some people.

Now, this can be an easy fix if the noise is coming from within the office. To solve this issue, all you need to do is address the area of concern and fix it. But what if the noise is coming externally on a frequent basis?

Well, you can do either of two things. Firstly, you can try to address or confront the external noise producer and see if there is any way for it to stop at least during your time of work. If that doesn’t work, then you might need to install soundproofing technology into your walls. This can get pricey for sure, but you’ve got to weigh the benefits of having less noise in the office versus the cost it is going to be to make the upgrade.

10. Make Meetings Quicker

Although you might think that you won’t be able to get everything in if you shorten meetings, you would be mistaken!

In fact, having shorter meetings makes them much more focused and thus, more productive. It is much better to have two 10-minute meetings over a 30-minute meeting that lacks purpose.

On top of that, do you really need to have a meeting? Or are you just holding meetings to “have a meeting?” If it is the latter, try scheduling meetings only when they are needed, rather than just out of habit.

11. Motivate with Pizza

Looking for ways to motivate the office into getting stuff done? Bribe them with pizza, not money.

Studies show that it is in fact true that pizza is a bigger motivator than money is. Of course, everyone wants (and needs) a raise especially to keep them feeling wanted; but instead of only giving raises why not give out pizza? It’s a lot cheaper in the long run and you will more likely than not have fewer people request raises all of the time!

12. Give Everyone a “Go Away” Sign

It might sound crazy but giving everyone a sign that tells people to “go away” or that they are busy is a great way to eliminate those intrusive interruptions and boost office productivity. If you want your office workers to be laser-focused, you’ve got to give them every reason in the book to achieve a high level of focus & productivity in the office. One way to do just that is by giving them the room to be able to tell everyone in a simple way that they are in a focused place and thus, should not be bothered.

13. Offer a Healthy Snack Bar

The keyword here is healthy. Healthy snacks give us the energy to boost our levels of focus to the proper levels in the office. Not only does it have short-term benefits, but it also gives the long-term benefits to employees of realizing a better state of health which will show in their work.

So, whether you offer a snack bar already or not; try introducing a healthy way for employees to get a snack in during the day.

14. Bring Your Dog to Work Day

A dog can be an awesome way to bring some life to your office. It can be a great way to get you to be more active, and social, and have friendlier vibes flowing in the office.

This of course comes along with some consideration for others and their feelings for dogs. You’ve got to watch out for things like dog phobias, allergies, and even building rules. If you pass all of these, you’re in the clear to start having a “bring your dog to work day!”

15. Implement a Variation of the (10+2)*5 Hack

The simple (10+2)*5 hack was first talked about on 43Folders.com and it’s a simple concept: work for ten minutes, break for 2, then repeat this 5 times (or an hour).

You might say, “Are you mad?! No way I’ll let my employees take a break every 10 minutes.” But hear me out…

Maybe you shouldn’t implement this tactic specifically but make a variation that works for your needs but still allows for productivity to be most optimal. And yes, there will be times when extreme concentration is required for more than 10-20 minutes, and obviously, this doesn’t have to be a “set in stone” type deal. Instead, make it a generally accepted practice to partake in such a method of break and work balance.

(We already talked about more breaks in #3, but we thought this hack was worthy of its own entry.)

16. Don’t Promote Multitasking

Have you ever listed a job listing opportunity with one of the qualifications as “multitasking?” If so, you’ve got it all wrong. In fact, you should be listing qualifications as “the ability to be laser-focused on one thing at a time.”

Multitasking has been proven to not be good, and it may actually be causing a lot of issues in your company. It not only makes you not work as fast as it would if you focused on one task at a time, but it also reduces the quality of work and causes more bad things than good. It can cause fact confusion, misinformation, and general issues that will lead to errors which they (or you) will have to go back to later and fix. Which in return, reduces productivity and actually causes much more harm than good.

17. Set Earlier Deadlines

The increasing dread people will have when you tell them deadlines for tasks will be reduced is going to be tough, but if you can hear us out then we are sure your employees will too.

Something called “Parkinson’s law” in short says that we will fill whatever time is allotted to complete a given task.

Why do you think people with a 3-month deadline to get a presentation done still find themselves struggling to get it ready to go last minute? Because they will fill the entire time they are given to finish it. This goes with any task, and if you shorten the time allotted to finish tasks you will see more getting done because people will work to fill the allotted time given.

This of course can be used too far and not given enough time to get things done with all the proper due diligence required. Finding a good balance of long enough but not TOO long will be difficult but start looking into deadlines and what exactly defines how far out they get set and start thinking about setting shorter (yet still realistic) deadlines.

18. Invest in Stand-up Desks (or Attachments)

Studies show that standing will not only improve health, but it will also aid in increasing productivity. Focus goes up and thus more work can get done.

This study compared those standing versus those sitting at the same job and noticed much greater levels of productivity in those who stood.

Getting everyone to stand for an entire day might be hard but getting people to stand for part of their day will improve output levels. And instead of buying all new desks (which can get expensive), there are a lot of options for attachments that you can put on top of existing desks which allow you to instantly stand or sit at your desk.

19. Stop Having to Go out for Coffee

Do you find yourself in a situation every single day where either you or someone else in the office is going out to get coffee for others?

Did you know that installing a coffee machine in your office will not only eliminate people leaving the office for coffee midday, but it will also reduce costs (that is if the company is paying for it)? Either way, it’s a win-win for everyone and this goes for virtually everything from snacks and lunch. Instead, you should look at your own office productivity status and its situation and focus on the tips that will most greatly improve & boost your office productivity and its flow. The worst thing you can do is try too many at once, that will just get you unfocused (and less productive)!

20. Do Tasks Immediately That Take Less than 3 Minutes

When a new task comes up, instead of putting it on a “to-do” list, consider how long it would take to complete it first. The more tasks on your list, the more your mind will be clouded with thoughts about everything you need to do and when you will do it (even if it is on a subconscious level). Instead of adding everything to the list, for any task that would take less than 3-5 minutes, do it right then and there.

This will clear out your to-do list and clear your mind of all these small little tasks that you would have put onto a list otherwise. Do small, easy tasks instantly when you come across such easy and quick tasks (and tell everyone in the office to do this too)!

21. Make the Workplace Fun

Nothing puts people off from getting a lot done more than resentment toward an awful manager.

Instead of keeping those who bring the fun office vibes down, identify the “trouble” people and either talk with them or figure out another solution. The last thing you want is a bunch of upset employees that hate their job because their boss sucks.

22. Air Pollution Has No Place in the Office

A study on call center workers showed that pollution in the office reduced productivity levels. As you can imagine, pollution is a major issue in a lot of places, especially in bigger cities.

If opening the windows is not an option, getting some good air filters will get rid of a lot of the toxins in the air which will boost office productivity greatly. Likewise, certain plants take out a lot of toxins in the air naturally.

23. Acknowledge Top Performers

Letting those who go out of their way and above and beyond should not only be acknowledged but rewarded as well. As humans, we will repeat those habits that are rewarded, and if we never obtain any sort of reward after doing very well; we will slowly lose that attitude and slowly do less and less. The same goes for bad habits, if we are rewarded for doing nothing, we will continue to do just that, nothing.

Now, you don’t have to give them a raise every time a worker goes above and beyond, but you could do something as simple as letting them know you see what they did and thank them for it or even buy them some food. If their work is above and beyond in the long term, you might want to consider giving them a raise too!

Final Thoughts

Implementing just a few of these tips will prove to return a positive ROI through increases in work output in the office.

Sure, you don’t need to do everything on this list and these tips are surely not in any specific order. Instead, you should look at your office productivity status and its situation and focus on the tips that will most greatly improve & boost your office productivity and its flow. The worst thing you can do is try too many at once, that will just get you unfocused (and less productive)!