One of the most important things to remember about a business is that it needs to run like a well-oiled machine. Every single gear needs to be turning in unison. If even one gear stops moving, then it can potentially bring the entire business grinding to a halt. It’s the idea that causes a lot of businesses to become incredibly focused on increasing productivity. Productivity is very important to any business, and if you can’t keep productivity up, then your business is going to end up falling behind the competition almost immediately. However, the big mistake that a lot of business owners make is that they assume the only way to increase productivity is to increase the pressure on themselves and their employees as well as having everyone work longer hours. This is not only a bad way to increase productivity, but it can also have a pretty dangerous impact on your and your employees. With that in mind, here are some ways to bring productivity up without exhausting you and your employees.

Create a more dynamic work environment

A lot of offices and work environments can be pretty stale. If you want to get more out of your employees then why not try making your environment a little more interesting. Things like opening it up to offer more effective communication or allowing things like a more lax dress code and letting employees pick their own lanyard wallet. These might all seem like incredibly small and simple things but they really can make a huge difference.

Improve communication

Communication is one of those most important aspects of any business. Without it, you’re never going to be able to get anything done. Which makes it all the more tragic just how often business owners and employees struggle to communicate with one another properly. Make sure that your office is the best possible environment for employees to talk and collaborate with one another. Not only that but an open door policy to your office is often one of the best ways to increase the flow of communication between you and your employees.

Plan more carefully

It might be a cliche, but the phrase “failing to plan is planning to fail” really is one of the most accurate statements in the business world. You need to make sure that you have a clear plan for both the long and short terms goals of your business. You need to know what it is that you want to achieve and exactly how it is that you’re going to go about achieving it. Being able to clearly demonstrate to your employees what it is they’re working towards is the best possible way to increase productivity and give them a reason to stay motivated every day.

The most important thing is that you never let your desire for a more productive working environment impact your employees in a negative way. Not only is that going to leave them feeling unmotivated and frustrated but it can even put you in a pretty shady legal position if they’re working more than their contracted hours without overtime pay.