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Emc & Associates Ltd.

Productivity – Top Tips for Companies returning to work post CoronaVirus

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DAILY TIME MANAGEMENT FOR ALL STAFF

There are only 24 hours in each day, so making the most of your work time is essential to free you up NOT to work. There are 2 ways increase your work output – either put in more work hours or work Smarter – I prefer to be Smarter, don’t you?

Being more Productive at work isn’t like splitting the atom, but it does require you to be more thoughtful, more deliberate and actually plan how you spend your time to work rest and play. So, below are some simple & effective ideas for increasing your own Productivity at work.

1. Use your commuting time to plan your day

Use your commute time much more constructively, to respond to emails, create a daily To-Do list, or some brainstorming if you are on Public Transport – especially useful for manging any delays.

2. Gift yourself a working environment that works for you

By fitting out your office or home work space with visually pleasing elements, you can increase your productivity by up to 10-15%. So, this can mean using your own colours, plants or photos in your work space – anything that puts a smile on your face and pleases you when you look at it.

3. Set self-imposed deadlines each day

While we usually think of a stress as a bad thing, a manageable level of (self-imposed) stress can actually be practical in terms of giving focus and helping meet your daily goals. For longer, open-ended tasks or Projects, break them down into monthly, or weekly, sub-objectives that give you realistic deadlines to work to and stick to them. You may be surprised to discover just how much more focused and productive you can be when you’re watching the clock.

4. Work in 60 minute intervals

Set your timer and work at intervals of 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, get up and walk around, talk to colleagues, make a coffee, have a comfort break or snack, to uplug. If you are working at home, try doing one household chore every hour. You’ll notice you are more productive after each break.

5. Break down large projects into bite-sized segments

Working on a large, time consuming project? Break it down into bite-size segments and set yourself mini targets. If they still don’t seem achievable / realistic, break it down further until you feel they are feasible, when you complete each segment.

6. Be Proactive, not Reactive

Don’t let incoming other people (via phone calls/emails) dictate how you spend your day, create your own To-Do list every day and ensure you do that. Set aside a block of time for responding to urgent emails or even better, delegate them.

7. Say no to meetings

Meetings are often the biggest waste of time, yet we still continue go to them and complain about them. Before accepting your next meeting invite, ask yourself whether you need to meet – could you all accomplish the same goal or task via email, phone, or web-based meeting from your office?

8. Walking and standing meetings

Walking meetings are great for socials, 121 catch ups and a fantastic way to incorporate simple activity into your workday. Short, focused, standing meetings surprisingly encourage creativity and collaboration. They also promote better engagement, increased sharing of information and ideas. Plus the physical benefit of a standing meeting puts less stress and strain on the body caused by sitting for long periods of time.

9. Magic 15 minutes

Create that 15 minutes in each day as your Magic time, when you are really focussed, probably in the morning, to see just how much you can achieve in that time. Dedicate 15 minutes in each day, or use that dead time before you decide to break for lunch or after lunch, making that your magic time.


HOW TO DEVELOP BEST PRACTICE

If you want to get your team, your staff to do more with less (more deliveries in less time, sell more per employee, create less waste to produce things), then get each team to discuss the best way each one of them does the same job – Swap tips, discuss the Pros & Cons of various ways of doing the same job. Show one another how to do more with less, especially less waste.


Create Best Practice. Teach Best Practice


Write down best practice and develop a Procedure for doing that job, so that every is able to perform that job as well as each other. This is what some Japanese Companies do, in their Kaizen teams, they incrementally improve the way people work and spread best practice. In Britain it’s called Levelling Up or Improving Productivity.


Cost £0.0, Benefit of Standardisation is usually around 20-30%. www.emcassociates.com/

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