Perfecting Productivity, Part Four: Promoting Productivity in Your Business

So, at this point, we’ve talked about what productivity is, how it can be measured, and how to protect it from what could potentially impact it negatively. To bring this brief series to a close, let’s talk about the things you can do to maximize it as much as possible for your business’ benefit.

Let’s Remember What We First Said: Productivity is a Metric

Going back to the first blog in this little series of ours, we shared a simple equation:

Productivity = Output/Input

Pretty simple, and yet deceptively complex…just as we established back then. However, we’ve reached a point now where we need to add a little bit more complexity to the equation by introducing another variable: time.

Time is a core facet of the above equation—it controls how much time that is committed to the output, and is one of two critical metrics that make up the productivity question, the other being the changes that resulted in that output by altering the input. Time is also something that you can influence through something called time leverage.

Time leverage is a fancy way of saying the maximum result for the minimum effort, or in other words, working smarter, not harder. You can accomplish it by delegating whatever tasks you can, automating others, and generally using technology to make your processes more efficient—and, by extension, boost your productivity.

Let’s conclude our conversation with a brief discussion of how you can make the most of the limited time you and your team members have.

How Can You Improve Your Time Leverage?

There are a few ways that you can, well, leverage your time more effectively.

Delegate More Effectively

If you are in a position where you are instructing others to complete various tasks, you can help to optimize how time is being spent by going about it more strategically. While it is always good to try and expand the skill sets of your team members to include more things, don’t hesitate to let your resident expert in something handle most of the tasks related to that thing. Make sure that you’re also explaining what your expectations are in detail, and giving your team the amount of support needed.

Be More Mindful in the Goals You Set

Obviously, the way that you spend your time is going to have an impact on your potential productivity. Therefore, the goals you set for yourself and your team should reflect this, and should be adjusted as you proceed so that they can be improved. The SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Timely, and Measurable) framework for goal setting is a good path to follow as you do so.

Turn to the Experts

Back to technology for a moment, it never hurts to have someone in your corner to make sure that everything is working the way you want (and need) it to. That’s where we come in.

One Up Solutions Northwest can assist you in maintaining and optimizing your business’ productivity by improving the IT you have at your disposal, increasing your capabilities through various measures. Learn more about what we can do to assist you by calling (503) 278-5011 today.