August 11th, 2015
The issue of British productivity has been in the headlines lately, with Chancellor George Osborne highlighting the need to improve output and launching a “Productivity Plan.” So here we present five ways for SMEs to boost productivity – ranging from organising meetings better to choosing well-designed office accommodation.
While there is concern that the UK is lagging behind some other countries in terms of raising output, the good news is that small businesses are showing the way forward to the rest of the economy. Figures from the Federation of Small Businesses show that productivity for small firms rose year on year by 1.4% during the last quarter of 2014, significantly outperforming the figure of just 0.3% for productivity across all workplaces.
However, more still needs to be done to boost productivity further. The Government has announced various initiatives designed to improve long-term investment and infrastructure – and many companies will be hoping that these make a difference. For instance, there’s a pledge to step up the rollout of high-speed broadband. But the onus is also on small businesses themselves to improve productivity still further – and here are five practical steps can they take to do just that.
1. Better Organisation and Scheduling: Planning ahead as far as possible, and arranging the best time to carry out different tasks, can save time and as a result make each individual more productive. It often helps people to focus if their work is prioritised, so that they know which areas they should concentrate on, and also if they have deadlines to work to – as long as these are realistic and don’t lead to quality being compromised.
If staff know in advance what they will be doing at a particular time, they can prepare and make sure they have the right information to hand. Where your business schedules are particularly complicated, for instance because you have to make a lot of appointments with clients, it could be worth looking into specialist scheduling software to help with some of the admin.
2. Plan Business Meetings Properly: A lot of time can all too easily be wasted at meetings, unless they are planned to ensure the best use of time. Meetings which take too long inevitably affect staff productivity, especially if too many people are invited who aren’t really involved with the issue at hand.
Before you hold a meeting, it’s helpful to have a clear idea about what you want to achieve and to aim to stick to the subject as far as possible. Sometimes if meetings are too formal it can also put staff off saying what they really think, so arranging more informal get-togethers can help to get the input you need.
3. Make Full Use of Technology: Having the right apps and software in place can help to speed up routine tasks, while using the cloud makes it easier for different team members to access projects and information as and when they need to.
Video-conferencing or use of Skype can often save time and help remote workers to touch base and keep you up to date with what they are doing. However, with greater reliance on technology, it’s also essential to have good technical support in place, so you don’t lose a lot of time if computers or data connections go down.
4. Workplace Location and Environment: Choosing a good location for your business where customers can easily reach you will help to boost productivity. If you are based somewhere remote and hard for clients to visit, the likelihood is that your staff will always have to travel to meet them, losing time out of the day as a result.
As well as being well-located, the way in which a workplace is laid out is important. It helps staff to get their work done if they are in comfortable and well-lit office space, without too much noise. Also, having breakout and informal meeting areas available for brainstorming sessions will promote employee engagement, which is a good way of motivating them and improving productivity.
5. Be Prepared to Delegate: A failure to delegate means key staff end up spending a lot of time on routine work which could easily be done by others. Often, the problem is that it would take time to train others to do those tasks. But not investing in training just means leaders end up having to deal with everyday admin and so don’t have enough time to focus on using their business-critical skills.
Basepoint Business Centres provide a whole range of features and services which work to boost productivity for companies based there, including the latest digital technology. All our centres offer well-designed office accommodation in prime business locations, with serviced meeting rooms and breakout areas where staff can get together informally. We also provide a range of networking opportunities and seminars within each centre.
