As the old saying goes, every single employee is a cog in the machine that makes a company. A startup is nothing more than the sum of its workers and their combined efforts.
Our employees streamline so much of their time into our timelines, projects, and work, it is only fair for companies to give back. As new age employers, one of our biggest concerns is making sure that our company has a healthy working environment for our employees.
Entertain
Work and play go hand in hand. Recent studies have shown that the right balance between work and entertainment is necessary for worker stimulation. It helps boost productivity off the charts when employees are able to engage in an activity or unwind during their breaks.
This is why it is important to keep some means of entertainment and amusement in the office. Whether you do this by availing Spectrum TV choice for employees to watch TV when free, setting up a game room or just having a few board and card games available, it is important to make the effort.
In addition to having the option to entertain themselves, it also goes a long way to show your employees that you care about them. Watching their employers make an effort to entertain them makes employees feel that the firm is one that has their best interests at heart, making them feel encouraged ti work.
Automate
The best way to eliminate extra load is by removing the additional tedious work that can be avoided. Technological grunt work is the first thing that can be offloaded to computers and AI that are not only much quicker at making calculations and causal assessments, but also much more accurate.
For example, going through huge amounts of data or case studies to determine the causal relationship between certain dates and the amount of rush at the mall can take days, weeks or even months for humans to establish. This can be done with the push of a few buttons using computers.
Additionally, finding solutions for the resultant problems is just as difficult and time consuming. This can also be made very quick and easy using prescriptive and predictive analysis. While humans may suggest solutions after deliberating for at least a day or two, computers make these tasks instantaneous.
Outsource
Outsourcing is another way to alleviate extra workload as it divides and evenly spreads the responsibility across a company’s department and the outsourced one. Outsourcing is when a company hires an external team or worker to handle a specific aspect of work or project.
You can save lots of time and effort that employees might spend on unnecessary tasks by outsourcing them. For example, digital marketing consultancy can save their software developing wing the task of designing an employee management portal or software by outsourcing it to someone else. This way, they can focus on other, more important tasks for their clients rather than wasting time.
Communicate Changes Along the Way
A very important way to reduce workload is also a very simple one that we often overlook- it is to communicate any changes required in a project along the way, to minimize counter-production. Work becomes double its own amount when you are required to undo your progress to eliminate a mistake made along the way.
A proper back and forth channel of communication between the corporate hierarchy as well as the clients is required to ensure this is possible. The top management should dictate changes to projects as they come and advise their employees to work to the standard that clients expect. The employees should report back to their bosses with progress reports regarding the status of each of their tasks
Electronic Planning
Planning your year ahead using electronic planning software rather than manually creating a schedule goes a long, long way. Utilizing online planning software helps keep the details of each project in one place, where they can be viewed and used by everyone on the team. Additionally, online planning tools allow a group to properly collaborate with one another, making it easier to brainstorm, edit, share ideas, make changes, or suggestions using the same application.
Additionally, with everything out in the open and equally accessible to all the teams, there is very little room left for error as everybody is familiar with their own tasks. This increases accountability as everything is put in the open for everyone to witness and work on simultaneously.
Flexible Hours and Remote Work
Companies tend to underestimate how much flexible working hours mean to their employees. The first thing that allows employees to work on their own terms is gaining their trust. A company that understands its employees’ needs is harder to find than it should be. So, when people see this happening, they immediately feel inclined to work harder.
Moreover, it also allows people to work at timing and under conditions that suit them best. Every individual has their own individual working strategy, and the environment and schedule that suits them best also depends upon it. Cater to your employees’ needs because they cater to yours.