Everyone knows that there are only 24 hours in a day, and it is impossible to get any more added on. When thinking about increasing production in a facility, this means you must always think first about how to become more productive, rather than just trying to get people to work more hours. Improved productivity is a great way to eliminate waste in facilities, and get the added production that you need for the company.
The following great tips will help any facility run more efficiently. The best thing about these tips is that they can be implemented by individuals or entire facilities with great effect. Even just implementing one or two of them can be a great way to start down the road toward improved productivity.
10 Tips to Increase Your Productivity
1. Improve Technology
Technological advancements over the past century are absolutely astounding. Every industry has benefited from machinery, computers and other technical advancements. When working on improving productivity, start by looking at the technologies (or lack thereof) that your facility is using. Consider updating systems or implementing new technologies to help get more work done for every hour of the day.
2. Take Action
While thinking about what the best approach to certain things is a good idea, many people (and companies) make the mistake of over-thinking every little decision. In many cases you’ll waste far more time contemplating the best course of action than you could possibly save. Make sure you know when it is more productive to just take action instead of thinking about every possible scenario.
3. End Procrastination
Procrastination is one of the biggest killers of productivity in the world today. When people put something off to do later, it is not only wasting time at the moment, but also in the future. Find ways to break the cycle of procrastination and learn to get things done right away.
4. Raise the Bar
Setting the bar high for your goals, and those of your facility, is a great way to get more done. When more is expected of people, they almost always raise to the occasion. Whether it is someone’s competitive spirit or their desire to succeed, setting the bar high can often encourage people to accomplish more than they would have dreamed possible.
5. Forget About Perfection
Perfection is great, but in reality it is not attainable. Focusing on getting everything 100% perfect every time can be a huge waste of time. Figure out what level of excellence you need to hit for each task, and then make sure to get to that point. Constant improvement can continue, but in the meantime your productivity will go up dramatically if you stop worrying about making sure every tiny detail is perfect.
6. Eliminate Interruptions
Phone calls, co-workers stopping in to chat, smoke-breaks and any other interruption of work is a real productivity killer. While it is impossible to eliminate every interruption, every one that can be gotten rid of will be a great accomplishment. When people are able to focus on one task they can complete things far faster than if you have to stop and start the activity over and over again.
7. Delegate
Many people think that the only way to get things done right is to do them yourself. While there are certainly tasks that are best left to one person, many others can be delegated. Delegating work to others is a great way to get more done each day, because you’re effectively adding more productive hours by allowing someone else to help.
8. Prioritize
A lot of time is wasted on unimportant tasks each day. In fact, many of the things people spend time on really don’t have a big impact on the bottom line at all. Prioritize the work that needs to be done and focus on the most important things first. The trivial items can get left behind without causing too many problems.
9. Make a List
Lists are a great way to keep track of what you need to do, and when. Combining a list with the prioritization can help ensure less time is wasted on things that don’t really need to get done. Checking items off of lists is also a great way to get a sense of accomplishment, which can be very motivating.
10. Focus
Focusing your efforts will help you to accomplish a lot more with the time you are given. Focusing is a term that can be used to combine many of the above mentioned tips. When you’re focused, you are not distracted or interrupted or procrastinating or wasting your time thinking about perfection. If you can focus on what you’re doing, you’ll become much more productive.
Additional Resources
- 15 Forklift Safety Tips [Industry Expert Advice for Safe Operation]– creativesafetysupply.com
- Lighting in the Workplace – How to Use Light to Increase Safety and Productivity at Work– blog.creativesafetysupply.com
- Mobile Conferences Tweak Productivity– 5snews.com
- Workplace Lighting Can Increase Safety and Productivity– creativesafetypublishing.com
- 5 Tips to Motivate Excellence– kaizen-news.com
- 4 Tips to Improve Workforce Efficiency within Your Warehouse– blog.5stoday.com
- 8 Safety Communication Tips– safetyblognews.com
- Floor Signs Improve Safety and Productivity– realsafety.org
- Go Lean and Increase Customer Satisfaction– aislemarking.com