Smart Strategies for a More Productive Workplace

As businesses enter the final fiscal quarter of 2012, many managers are finding themselves needing to stay under budget while getting important projects completed by March. While those in upper management are familiar with this challenging time of year, project goals can still incredibly stressful to achieve no matter how experienced you are. Now, due to the increased difficulties raised by these conditions, everyone is looking for clever ways to rally the troops and get employees to give 110% at the office.  

The next time you’re staring down tight deadlines and need to incentivize your workers to give their all, try to find ways to connect to your employees and give them reasons to care.

Hold Friendly Competitions

If you’re working with a group of employees who have known each other for a while and may have formed friendships outside the office, you should try to use that familiarity to hold friendly competitions. By getting workers to compete with one another to meet deadlines, achieve project goals, and other hit important metrics, you’ll find that inspired employees will move at a brisker pace. For better results, try throwing in a small prize like a gift card to a movie theater or popular convenience store to get people to notice the contest. This will get other workers more involved as well.

Meet Regularly to Discuss Progress

Of course you’ll want to meet with team leaders on a regular basis to discuss project milestones, but you’ll miss out on some motivational opportunities if that’s all you do in these meetings. Aside from simply discussing projects, you should take the time to also discuss employee behavior and current obstacles when you meet with team leaders. By stopping at regular intervals in the month to go over team specifics, you will gain valuable insight into how you can improve the overall work effort. This can include who should fulfill what project roles, key areas for improvement, and necessary changes to project expectations.

Become Involved Yourself

Few things keep employees working devotedly as having the boss around. By showing you have an active interest in getting the project done on time, you can motivate team members to really apply themselves to hit deadlines and get things done efficiently. This can happen by doing simple things like making regular comments and giving feedback on project initiatives, in addition to visiting the team in person. You can even contribute to the project yourself if time allows.

Aside from these potential courses of action, you may also want to consider adding some new hires to your staff where the budget permits. In that case, we recommend you contact us at J & J Staffing Resources. Our staffing agency helps you find the employees you need to get the work done on time.