Every employer knows that the continuous delaying of work tasks by the employee isn’t good for the organization. Some employees manage to pass over the tempting activities not related to work and stay focused, having high productivity. There are some people whose attention can be easily distracted by various activities, other than those related to the job.
For example, cubicle office may produce some employees feeling claustrophobic. There are people who may feel restricted in such places, and they will always need to take breaks, to get out for some fresh air or just leaving the office. So, the way how the workspace is organized can become an enemy of productivity. Conversations with other colleagues, people with whom they might spend the most of their time, can also be time and energy consuming.
On the other hand, open space offices prevent sound insulation and chattering colleagues can always be a source of distraction for employees that focus better in a silent environment. The best would be to have conference rooms, closed spaces where employees could go to work when they have to perform some urgent tasks. Also, to combat this factor leading to decreased productivity, some employers might allow their employees to work from home, up to a certain number of days per month.
Breaks, meetings and new technologies
It is absolutely normal for employees to be given breaks during working hours. However, frequent cigarette breaks or those in which employees take some snacks between meals can interrupt the normal workflow. Thus, certain tasks are interrupted, forgotten and sometimes things are not carried out the right way. In this case, the best would be that the number of breaks during the working day to be limited and to have certain time frames when they can be taken.
When they are not thoroughly prepared in advance, the meetings are time consuming. If the meeting is not taking place only with the persons who are directly affected by the issues to be discussed and if the subjects that will be debated are not planned and are not followed according to the plan, they will produce waste of time. Equally, discipline is extremely important when it comes to meetings, so it would be good that they always start and end at the scheduled hours.
Social networks can be used as a communication tool or for analyzing competition. However, their use by employees for personal purposes during the work hours causes time waste and lowers productivity. Therefore, in some companies social media are blocked on work computers. Meanwhile, mobile phones are becoming more modern, and most of them are connected to the Internet, so they become a source of distraction.
In these circumstances, the best way to combat these factors that affect concentration and workflow is the discipline – demanding some rules at the workplace.
BIA HR TEAM