3 Simplifying Tips to Increase Productivity

 Tue 22 Oct 2013

3 Simplifying Tips to Increase Productivity

All organizations are slowed down by unnecessary behaviors that choke productivity. These practices can help you clear some of it away:

    (1) Pick up the phone.
 An email chain can be a useful reference, but it frequently takes more time to write an email than to have a conversation. Conversations can get your questions answered immediately and prevent future back-and-forth messages.

   (2)  Encourage streamlining.
Ask your employees: What meetings can we eliminate? What reports can we stop doing? What steps in a process can be removed? Let your team know that their suggestions won’t be taken as complaints but as creative ideas for improving productivity.

  (3)   Stop reviewing low-impact work.
It’s wise to thoroughly review documents being sent to potential clients, but not all work products are mission-critical. Tell your team that it’s their responsibility to ensure their own quality control — and that you trust them to do a great job.



Adapted from “To Simplify, First Clear the Underbrush,” by Ron Ashkenas and Lisa Bodell.