Is your productivity slipping for one reason or another? From time to time you may feel like you are not as productive as you were in the past – this is quite common. Although common, you do not want this to last too long. If it does, many days or weeks (or longer) may go by without you getting your work done.
The million dollar question is: how can I get back on track if my productivity begins to slip? Everybody is different, but here are three things you should consider:
1. Go back to what has worked in the past. For instance, maybe you were working longer days in the past but recently decided to cut back. If this has led to less productivity on the job, you need to go back to your old ways for the time being. There is nothing you can do that cannot be undone in the future.
2. Know what changed. As noted above, any change could lead to less productivity which can turn into subsequent issues. If you know what you changed you can then do one of two things: tweak your new plan, or as mentioned in tip number one, scrap it altogether and go back to the way that things used to be. Continue reading ‘How to get back on track when your productivity slips’
Working with a team, big or small, can be a lot of fun. Of course, this can lead to disaster if your productivity begins to slip. Just because you are working with others does not mean that you should be passing off your work. Along with this, you need to make sure that you never fade into the background. For a team to be successful, no matter what the project, everybody needs to do their part and pull their weight.
Here are five tips for staying productive when working with a team:
1. Know your role. Before you ever get started every team member will probably be assigned a particular responsibility. You need to know your role and take it very seriously. This goes along with doing your part. If you concentrate on your part of the job everything else will begin to fall into place. This subject has already been debated in a recent post and we have seen how one can improve team performance by simply knowing its role.
2. Do not be afraid to ask team members for help. Many people think that this is a sign of weakness – nothing could be further from the truth. It often times takes help from another to not only complete your job, but to stay productive while doing so.
Continue reading ‘Staying Productive when working with a Team’
Winter holidays are coming and people start to spend more and more time searching for Christmas presents for their friends and families. “Avoid the Christmas crowds and do your Christmas shopping from home this year!” this is how most online shopping sites ads sound like. And this wouldn’t be a bad thing at all if we wouldn’t consider the CareerBuilder survey which concluded that more than half of employees who have Internet access at work say they will shop for holiday gifts from the office.
While online shopping may be far more efficient than braving the crowds at lunch hour or after work time, employee online shopping at work can compromise both security and productivity. There are two issues that both the employees and the employers have to be aware of for the good running of the company. Continue reading ‘Half of employees will do holiday shopping at work’
Everybody gets sick – there is no way around this. At some point in time you will be under the weather. Unfortunately, this does not always mean that you will be able to stay in bed until you feel better. Some people have to go to work no matter how they feel. In this case, you need to make sure you stay productive. After all, you don’t want to waste an entire day sitting at your desk, staring into space.
Here are four tips for staying productive even when you are ill:
1. Pace yourself. The last thing you want to do is go all out and make yourself feel worse as the day goes on. Have a schedule of things that need to get done, and then work through them one thing at a time. This will help to keep you on track despite the fact that you are feeling ill. Continue reading ‘How to stay productive even when you are ill’
“Nobody’s perfect, but a team can be 
”. Because this is my favorite saying about teamwork and because this is perfectly true, I was thinking to provide it more attention.
Let’s take a quick view over the teamwork definition (provided by Wikipedia): “Teamwork is a joint action by two or more people, in which each person contributes with different skills and express his or her individual interests and opinions to the unity and efficiency of the group in order to achieve common goals”.
The fact that every human being is unique is a well known fact. Every employee has its personality, has specific skills and has always something new to learn. Let’s face it: nobody’s perfect and nobody knows everything. Continue reading ‘Improve team performance by simply knowing your role’
Lunch break is personal time, so, stop what you’re doing and listen!
Statistics show that 45% of the American workers are taking shorter and/or fewer lunch breaks than they did a year ago. Many employees are also skipping lunch to reduce expenses while more than a third pass on the mid-day lunch break because of increasing workload.
We are all too busy these days and taking a leisurely lunch is seen like a waste of precious time. Also, we are working hard, sacrificing the lunch break and eating junk food at our desk because the idea that we could get out of work at a reasonable hour enjoys us. This extra time could allow us to spend some quality time with our families and friends and more than that could help us avoid the rush hour.
Whatever the reason for doing it, this has to stop. Continue reading ‘Lunch break and productivity’
According to UK researches from the IT Job Board, 35% of techies are working more than 48 hours per week, 7.3% claim between 60 to 75 hours and 3.8% stated that they work in excess of 75 hours. Comparing these numbers with the last year survey (33%, 4.8% and 2.4% respectively) we see that IT pros are working more and more longer hours.
As for the reasons IT professionals stated for working so much, here are the study’s findings:
- 32% of respondents cited that it was due to the high volumes of work,
- 9% advised they were paid overtime,
- 9.5% stated that it was “what the management expected”
Now, the first question that came up in my mind when I’ve seen that is: “do these people have a personal life?” It is OK to be dedicated to your job, and especially when you are an IT professional and you are working on Continue reading ‘IT Pros are working more and more longer hours’
Running a business involves dealing with different kind of people and different age groups. By recognizing and understanding the varying needs of people at different stages of their life and career could actually improve workplace productivity. Managers must be aware of the characteristics of the main workplace generations (Gen Y (aged 18-29), Gen X (aged 30-47) and baby boomers (aged 48-65)) and act accordingly regarding the communication style and compensations system.
Effective communication is one of the keys to effective business. In this respect managers must know that Gen Y is increasingly using instant messaging, yet all age groups prefer face-to-face communication. Employees motivation is also an important factor in the business success thus, one must know that in regard to rewards and bonuses, older workers prefer non-cash items such as time off work and training opportunities while Gen Y have a clear preference for monetary rewards.
Survey results also show that Continue reading ‘Differences between generations improve workplace productivity’
Studies show that one in three Americans are taking naps, and that number may actually be higher, because they do not include those who only “close their eyes” in an easy chair on a regular basis but don’t admit they are napping.
Considering that people are used to take a nap in the middle of the day, when they are at work, and watching these numbers, we should ask ourselves what happens with employee productivity during this period? How much does this habit affect their productivity?
Well, we took a closer look at statistics provided by Cyclope, our employee productivity tool, and we have discovered that our employees are most active and productive during Continue reading ‘A 26 minutes nap will increase productivity by 34%’
Once with the explosion of mobile communications technology the employees’ behavior has changed. So is the work and life balance. Smartphones and laptops help employees remain in constant contact with their work, but, what about their personal life?
A study conducted by Kelly Global Workforce Index, which obtained the views of approximately 100,000 people in 34 countries covering North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific has analyzed the impact of modern technology in employees’ productivity.
Here are their global findings: Continue reading ‘Modern technology: increased productivity but longer working hours’
Recent Comments