As a small business owner, there are a number of factors that can influence your employees’ productivity. Maybe there’s been an increase in workload or a reduction in staff that requires you to modify your business processes. You may need to work from home in order to adjust to the “new normal” brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Or maybe you are simply relocating your small business office and need your staff to perform more efficiently.

Regardless of the situation you’re in, keeping your employees productive in times of change should be your top priority. With that in mind, here are five productivity tips to help small business owners.

Aim for an organized workflow

Dealing with all those urgent deadlines and notifications on top of an already full plate can certainly leave you and your employees feeling overwhelmed and drained. To prevent having your schedule filled to capacity and causing additional stress, it’s important to create a sense of balance.

For that to happen, you’ll need to create an organized workflow. What this essentially means is that you need to learn how to prioritize and delegate tasks. While it can certainly feel as if every task and project is urgent, not all of them are equally important. By identifying and focusing on tasks that require your attention and delegating, delaying, or pausing the ones that don’t, small business owners can create a more efficient workflow and boost the overall productivity of their employees.

Create favorable working conditions

It’s no secret that keeping your employees happy can help boost their productivity. Employee satisfaction has a direct impact on employee performance, and when workers feel valued, they’re more motivated to stay productive.

Sometimes, this will involve making minor adjustments like setting your thermostat a couple degrees higher or sending out small vouchers. Other times, creating favorable working conditions will mean making improvements such as investing in small business health plans that protect people and profits. By investing in health care for small business owners, you’ll make sure that your employees are well supported. What’s more, you’ll also show your employees that you care about their wellness. This, in turn, will make your team feel valued, ultimately resulting in a significant office productivity boost.

Streamline all communication

As a small business owner, you already know how important communication is. This is especially true for small businesses that were affected by the pandemic. Sending emails has replaced physical interaction, and with more employees working remotely, maintaining an effective communication becomes a challenge. Not only that, but entire business operations seem to slow down once a simple process becomes a more complex one.

The solution? Rely on new digital communication and collaboration tools to help streamline all communication. Different software services can be used to help measure productivity of each individual while also allowing for instant communication.

Work on eliminating time-wasters

As much as you try to remain productive and focused, there are always areas that could use some improvement. It is your job as a business owner to identify any distractions and interruptions that are harming your business’ productivity.

To help your employees stay productive, look for time-wasters and try to find ways to minimize opportunities for such actions. If it’s not serving your business and helping it grow, you are better off eliminating it altogether. Similarly, if certain tasks are taking too long to complete, see if you can automate or outsource them.

Avoid multitasking

Last but not least, small business owners should avoid the pitfalls of multitasking. When you’re juggling a lot of tasks, it seems logical that you’d try to multitask and get more things done. In reality, you’re only compromising the quality of your work. All that shifting back and forth can result in errors and mistakes simply because you’re not fully focused. Not to mention how multitasking can slow you down and put additional stress on you and your employees.

Despite the notion of multitasking being a positive trait that’s encouraged, you’re better off focusing on each task individually. By making each task a priority, you’ll perform more efficiently without putting the quality of your work in jeopardy.

Wrapping up

As a small business owner, it’s understandable that you want to make your day-to-day business operations as efficient as possible. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean working harder nor does it call for working long hours. Rather, it’s about working smarter and making adjustments that will help your employees optimize their efforts and remain productive regardless of the situation at hand.