Improving operational efficiency with a few simple steps
Efficiency is key to having a motivated, hard-working and resourceful workforce. There are only so many hours in a day, let alone in a week to cram everything in, but could you be wasting more time than you need to be? Finding time to do everything in life from work to play can be difficult to say the least! But how efficient is your workplace? Could you be doing more to be efficient yourself? Here are five simple ways to improve operational efficiency by working smarter in the workplace!
Implement the two-minute rule
What’s that? I hear you asking… The two-minute rule is when you can identify a task which would take two minutes or less, then do it immediately. No, not in five minutes, right now. You’d be surprised at how many of these tasks crop up throughout the day that you may put to one side. Also, when you complete these tasks, it will help you to be more motivated into completing bigger tasks. Apparently, getting tasks done rather than saving them until later takes less time!
Work with people
Sounds strange, but actually being alone too much can be distracting from your goals. Improving efficiency can come down to just connecting with the right people, whether that means talking to new people each day or actually surrounding yourself with interesting people in the office. Even spending some time working in a new environment with friendlier faces, such as maybe at a coffee shop can help to refresh your mind.
Invest in proper Equipment
Investing in proper equipment is essential. If you don’t have proper equipment then efficiency will be hugely effected. For example, if your computer or internet is slow, it may take 10 seconds to load a page when it should only take 2. Think how many pages you click on and load a day. This spread over a year and you’ve wasted days of time and time is money. Little things also matter like providing tea and coffee so people can stay alert or ergonomic chairs so people are comfortable and even proper pens, pencils and notepads (this is especially essential is jobs like architecture). Surprisingly, stationery companies online usually supply all these things, even the tea and coffee so it takes five seconds to regularly update your equipment.
Make friends with technology
If you’re not 100% clued up on the latest apps and gadgets, then you may be surprised that there are hundreds of apps which can help with efficiency. Here are 11 to get you started! Apps are a great way to help you to manage your time, calendars, checking meetings and more!
Take more breaks
Stepping away from your work for a short while can help to refresh your mind so that you can get back into your work with even more vigour than before. Even taking a break in the form of withdrawing from social media briefly whilst in the middle of working can help to keep you focused. Working at 90 minute intervals can improve your productivity as well. A study was done on athletes, musicians and others and it was proven that people were more productive if they worked at these intervals instead.
Create to-do lists
And stick to them! We should all be creating to-do lists because it increases our productivity tenfold. Creating a to-do list can make you see how easy it is to get things done quickly and encourage you to do even more things in the time that you have saved. Creating these lists in advance can be extremely helpful, so set aside some time each week, preferably at the same time, to create them.
So, what will you be doing to improve operational efficiency in your workplace? Also, do you have any other ideas to add? Feel free to let us know!
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