Staying productive in our hyper-connected world gets more difficult every day. Staying busy is easy, but keeping teams productive is the challenge. True productivity is the result of planning and focus. Use these strategies to start boosting your team’s productivity today.

Encourage People to Turn Off Email

Email is convenient, but it can be a real drain on time. When email alerts pop up, most people stop what they are doing to read the email and deal with it that instant. Encourage your team to time-block email to promote focus. Have them check email a few times a day: first thing in the morning, halfway through the morning, before or after lunch and at the end of the day.

Automate Tasks

Manual tasks and haphazard project tracking can eat up a lot of time. Invest in tools that help engineering teams automate manual tasks like document tracking, project management and even email. The right tools can eliminate time spent hunting down documents and engaging in redundant back-and-forth exchanges. Be sure all tools are cloud-based to ensure everyone has access to the most recent and accurate information whether they are in the office, in the field or at home.

Give Every Meeting a Purpose

Meetings are important, but they can hinder productivity if they are too frequent or they lack purpose. It is frustrating to step away from work to attend meetings about meetings, meetings that rehash information everyone already knows or meetings that lack focus. Make sure every meeting has a purpose and a clearly defined agenda. Set a time limit and assign a moderator to keep people on track if the conversation starts to veer off into the weeds.

Empower Team Members to Do Their Jobs

Nothing hinders productivity like a micromanager because they prevent people from getting into a rhythm in their workday. Constant interruptions for progress reports or to be taught how to do a task they already know how to do is extremely frustrating, demoralizing and simply wastes time. Management must be willing and able to empower people to do their jobs the best way they know how.  Leaders should work with micromanagers to help them learn to delegate effectively and to let go of control.

Let People Disconnect

Poor work-life balance has a negative impact on morale and overall productivity. Everyone needs a break from work to recharge their batteries. Discourage managers and employees from contacting people on vacation or during off hours unless it is an absolute emergency. When employees come to work feeling refreshed, it allows them to stay focused throughout the day.

Hire Strategically

You can work on productivity strategies with engineering staff, but it’s always beneficial to start by hiring talented people who naturally bring productive skills to the table. This is true whether you’re hiring permanent full-time staff or if you’re utilizing consultants to help you meet deadlines. If you are looking for more strategies to keep productivity high through strategic staffing, contact the experts at PEAK Technical Staffing today.

About PEAK 

PEAK Technical Staffing is a leading provider of engineering staffing services, offering contract staffing, contract-to-hire and direct hire solutions throughout the United States. With nearly fifty years of technical recruiting experience, we find solutions that meet more than just your technical requirements.

We work closely with you to make sure that every candidate fits your company’s unique needs and culture.

If you are looking for skilled, experienced engineering professionals to help your business succeed, contact the recruiting experts at PEAK Technical Staffing today.