How to Encourage Productivity at Work

The majority of us spend much of our day at work. Since we spend so long in the workplace, it is important that we are happy both with our jobs and with the environment in which we work. After all, being unhappy at work can lead to serious implications not only during working hours but for your health and in your personal life as well. While it is virtually impossible to ensure that you are constantly happy at work, there are still many ways in which you can work towards ensuring that every working day is as good as it can possibly be.

There is a direct link between happiness, motivation and productivity – a productive person is a motivated one; a motivated person is a happy one. Someone who is content with their current job and pleased with the work that they do is somebody who will be working to their full capacity as effectively as possible.

Therefore, the benefits for employers of putting employees’ happiness first are clear to see. There are a wide variety of ways in which levels of happiness can be improved, which should then have a positive knock-on effect when it comes to motivation, productivity, and ultimately, success.

How to Encourage Productivity at Work

People rarely succeed unless they are having fun in what they are doing.

- Dale Carnegie

Targets

Setting goals and targets that you want your employees to achieve is a great way to boost their productivity. Make sure that you are tapping into people’s natural sense of competitiveness by setting goals that are realistically achievable while still stretching them a little further past their usual boundaries. A word of warning – make sure that any competition stays friendly, as the last thing that you want is for your team to suddenly find itself divided by competition!

Success

Similarly, you should make sure that you are always ready to celebrate successes within the workplace. Whether it is a team achievement or an individual accomplishment, both should be valued and appreciated equally in order to further motivate your team in the future. After all, praise and rewards show your employees that all their hard work is not only noticed but also respected, which can provide a big boost in terms of motivation and self-esteem.

Variety

Variety is the spice of life, and it is never easier for something to quickly become bland and boring than at work. Counteract the negative effects of the same old tasks day in, day out, by introducing something a little different into the working day. A simple way to do this is by giving the office an update to provide a fresh feel. Whether it is a new coat of paint, some bright accessories or just a change in layout and seating arrangements, all of these things can work towards creating a more positive working atmosphere.

Of course, this is all well and good for the traditional office environment, but some workplaces simply don’t have the ability to be able to adapt to incorporate a fresh feel. Luckily, there is another great way to add some extra variety into the working day.

Fun team-building events are perfect for getting everybody out of the usual workplace and allowing them the freedom to try something new together. Team building events are known for encouraging people to work together and develop workplace relationships, but they are also a brilliant way of increasing motivation and removing the negative effects of an unchanging routine. If the weather is a concern, why not opt for indoor team-building activities instead? That way, you can safely try something new while remaining secure in the knowledge that the weather can’t spoil the fun day of events that you’ve got planned.

Once you begin to implement these changes and work towards improving the working lifestyle of your employees, you will then see a rise in levels of both motivation and productivity. Since the two are so closely interlinked with happiness, these three things are surefire ways to guarantee success.