Productivity is a primary concern for all business owners and if you can’t keep your employees motivated and happy, your business will struggle to survive. Most business owners recognize that paying a good salary and offering benefits are some of the best ways to increase productivity, but you may still be making simple mistakes that have a negative impact.

The way that you design and run your office space is central to productivity and if you don’t get it right, you will find that your employees are a lot less efficient than they could be. These are some of the big office mistakes that could be killing productivity in your business.

Inflexible Design

For a long time, it was thought that the cubicle was the most efficient way for people to work. All distractions are shut out and you can get your head down and work productively. But in recent years, new office designs have become more popular and a lot of businesses are going for an open plan design instead. The thinking behind this is that it creates a more positive environment and encourages collaboration and teamwork amongst your employees, which makes them more efficient.

The truth is, neither office design is the ‘right’ one because everybody is different. Some people work very well in a cubicle because they are most effective when they can shut everybody out and focus on a task. However, other people work best when they are collaborating with a team. That is why inflexible design is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make. Instead of going for all cubicles or a completely open plan office, you should design an office that provides both working environments. When you allow your employees to be flexible and provide them with a space that allows them to work in a way that suits them, you will see a big increase in productivity.

Poor Maintenance

An office that is not well maintained is not a good environment for your employees, and it will impact productivity. People want to be in a comfortable, inviting space, not an outdated office with peeling paint and heating that doesn’t work properly. That is why it is so important that you keep your office well maintained. If your office is looking a little tired, you should consider renovating it. Even though it is expensive, you will earn that money back when your profits shoot up as a result of increased productivity. It will also be a big help if clients ever visit your office because an outdated and poorly maintained office sends the wrong message about your business.

Daily maintenance of the office is important as well because a dirty office environment can be a health hazard and increase employee absence, and it is not a pleasant environment to work in. It is important that you have a professional office cleaning company (like this one at Mcjanitorial.com) come in and give the office a deep clean on a regular basis. You should also ensure that all of your employees are responsible for keeping their own desk areas and communal areas, especially the kitchen clean.

Distractions

The cubicle system was invented to reduce distractions, but these days, it’s not so effective. When it was first designed, there were no smartphones and internet to distract people from work, but now, people can be distracted regardless of whether they are in a cubicle or not. This can be difficult to manage because you don’t want to treat your employees like children and ban them from having phones in the office.

The best thing that you can do is lead by example, so make sure that you are not on your phone all of the time at work. If your employees see you scrolling through social media, they will assume that it’s fine for you to do the same. If you do notice that certain people are spending a lot of time on their phone, have an informal word with them and let them know that they need to focus on their work. You can also limit distractions by putting restrictions on the internet so people cannot access social media on their computers.

Workplace gossip is another big distraction, and there are certain people around the office that tend to distract others while they are trying to work. Workplace gossip leads to conflicts between employees, and that causes a dip in productivity, so you need to deal with it before it gets out of hand.

Endless Meetings

Meetings are supposed to be productive, but that is not always the case in the modern office. If you are having a meeting about a project and deciding how to proceed, for example, you have a clear purpose and you are making some progress. However, most meetings don’t go this way and instead, they are general meetings that don’t really do or say anything. Things like weekly meetings are not actually that useful unless there are specific issues to discuss, they just waste everyone’s time. If you want to increase productivity, you need to learn how to run effective meetings.

Firstly, make sure that you know why you are holding a meeting in the first place. If you can’t give a clear answer to that question, you don’t need a meeting. Secondly, only invite people that actually need to be there, so everybody else can get on with their work. Finally, you need to have a clear agenda for each meeting. Having a list of talking points will help you to stay on track and keep the meeting as short as it can be, while also making sure that you hit all of the key points. Once you cut back on your meetings and learn how to make them more productive, you will find that your employees are a lot more efficient and you do not waste anywhere near as much time.

These office mistakes are very common in businesses and they can kill productivity. But if you can avoid them, you will notice a big increase in productivity overnight.