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- 1). Motivate your employees. Employees who are unhappy with their duties, compensation packages, supervisors, or the office environment are much less likely to meet deadlines, do work thoroughly, and put in the effort necessary to obtain new clients or projects and to keep existing ones satisfied. This can sharply affect your bottom line and your profits. If this seems to be a system-wide situation and not the attitude of one particular employee, consider incentive programs and more open communication: weekly meetings with department teams to voice complaints, surveys of employee opinions on workplace systems, and bonuses, gift cards or prizes geared toward meeting particular business targets. Don't put employees in unfair situations where they feel overwhelmed and under-appreciated, or they may quit, and high turnover wastes your time and money. Adding better benefits such as daycare, flexible hours and the option of working from home can further increase your employees' loyalty and productivity.
- 2). Delegate responsibilities clearly. Does each person's job have particular duties that are not duplicated by other people? Do several people end up doing the same thing? Do some people spend too much time supervising or micromanaging instead of delegating? Are necessary responsibilities clearly relayed to one particular person, and to the correct person? Review and create a system where each employee is accountable for his responsibilities. This will ensure that deadlines are met and that there is no confusion allowing one employee to pass off a task to another.
- 3). Maintain office space, equipment and materials that are up-to-date, work properly and are free from constant adjustments, fixing or in need of frequent repair. Do your employees spend half an hour fixing persistent paper jams in the copier? Are employees lingering in the break room because your coffee maker is out of order? Do they waste time calling building management because the heat doesn't turn on? Is your email system cluttered and slow? Do employees have private space, room to organize their belongings and the appropriate software programs to let them do their jobs? Make a list of these issues and select one or a few people to evaluate and solve these issues. Be prepared to purchase new items or hire new service vendors. In the long run, you'll save time and money.
- 4). Put competent people in charge. Do you have middle managers who are pulling in large salaries and not putting in their due? Are they prohibiting their teams from doing their own work productively? Do they delegate time and tasks wisely? Interview team members anonymously and have them evaluate their bosses. Do they think there is a problem? Pay particular attention people in "gatekeeper" roles, who serve as liaisons between team members and buyers. If you need to replace someone, always try to hire internally first. These people know your organization best, are counting on a platform to move up and are already more familiar with your organization, and many of them will be eager to make effective changes. Make evaluation a regular thing, and let your employees know that you are listening and responding to their concerns. If you encourage an environment of mutual respect, less time will be wasted with office gossip, sabotage and venting.
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