Productivity Roadblocks: 5 Dangers to Your Workflow and 5 Ways to Overcome Them

What is a Productivity Roadblock?

Are you and your team struggling with increasing productivity? Well, you aren’t alone. Many employees — as well as their bosses — are struggling with being productive throughout the day. Take a look at these startling stats on all the factors that are taking employees off their game:

• The typical business professional sends 122 messages a day.
• People spend an estimated four hours a day on mobile devices.
• People spend an average of two full workdays on Facebook a month.
• Once a worker has been interrupted, it takes approximately 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back on task.

Can you relate to any of these stats? The chances are high that you can. While social media, email, and workplace interruptions are necessary parts of the workday, they — and other factors — can also be productivity roadblocks. Managing these is the key to how to increase productivity. However, what exactly is a productivity roadblock?

Productivity roadblocks are occurrences that can distract you and take you away from tasks that help you be productive.

Overcoming these roadblocks are crucial. It is vital to understand that productivity and engagement go hand-in-hand, and typically low productivity in business leads to decreased engagement.

Low engagement can cost businesses $450 to $550 million in lost productivity each year, as well as a decrease in performance and morale. So, what productivity roadblocks should you watch out for? Take a look at five dangers to workflow and the ways to thrive amid these drawbacks.

Five Dangers to Your Workflow and Ways to Overcome Them

Email

How many times have you checked email since reading this blog? Well, according to recent data, you are going to spend 28 percent of today reading email. For many, emails are a huge time drainer. How can you and your team take some of this time back during the day?

Well, you can help your team designate specific times during the day to check email (so everyone is not checking email throughout the day). Also, don’t be afraid to use your tools. An instant messenger platform can help you bypass emails and receive quick answers without having to wait for a response (if the message is urgent enough for your team).

Stress

All those emails, instant messages, and work commitments can lead to some significant stress. Approximately one million workers miss work each day due to stress. This information means that on any given day, someone is not available to handle their tasks for the day. This situation can considerably impact work deadlines, sales, and the workload of other employees.

You can get a handle on this by simply asking your workers about what is causing them stress. Use surveys to find out what is contributing to the stress they are trying to manage throughout the day. As a result, you can create a plan to address these issues, which should also increase productivity.

Workplace Distractions

As stated earlier, it takes workers over 20 minutes to get back on track when they are distracted from their work. From interruptions from the boss to client phone calls, a lot can hurt your performance. Unfortunately, these distractions come at a price and can significantly impact your work productivity. A recent study found that 54 percent of workers feel as if they are not performing as well as they should when they are exposed to workplace distractions. There are three ways you can combat this problem:

• Allow workers to work in places where they feel productive, and are separated from distractions. These locations could include home, coffee shops, coworking facilities. Even giving them just a couple of days to work offsite can significantly improve morale.
• Invest in a productivity tool. Flujo allows teams to simultaneously work on project files while conversing over instant message, and scheduling meetings. It would help if you had a one-stop-shop that prevents constant distractions, and a robust productivity tool can accomplish this.
• Finally, provide training on effective time management strategies. Offer tips on prioritizing their day, and tools that can help ward off digital distractions. Also, guide employees on setting aside time for workplace conversations and meetings.

Poor Communication

Recent data reveals that 63 percent of employees are so frustrated with how their company communicates with them that they are ready to quit. A lack of communication can lead to a variety of productivity obstacles and problematic situations. How can you collaborate, delegate tasks, or ensure everyone is on the same page if communication isn’t happening? As a result, this element is a must-have component in a “how to increase productivity” plan. So, this should be a priority.

You can tackle communication issues in several ways. However, the first should be the development of communication standards. Help workers understand when it is appropriate to use email, instant message, or video conferencing. Also, have tools that make it easy to schedule meetings and share messaging with direct members of your team.

Meetings

In an Atlassian study, half of employees believed that meetings were a waste of time. At one point during your career, you likely dreaded the phone call for an impromptu meeting. The chances are high that many others have had the same experience. The solution to this roadblock to work productivity is better meeting management. For example:

• All meetings should have an agenda that is shared with participants ahead of time.
• Meetings shouldn’t last over an hour.
• All those hosting the meeting should set goals for what the session is meant to accomplish so that it efficiently drives the conversation.
• Invest in a productivity tool that makes it easy to schedule meetings.

Invest in a Tool that Allows Your Team to Thrive

Each of the roadblocks above can have a significant impact on work productivity in your business. Your goal is to create solutions to effectively tackle these obstacles so you can put your business on the right path.

As a result, you need a blend of practical strategies and the right tools. If you are struggling with how to increase productivity, we want to invite you to take a look at Flujo. It is an all-in-one productivity multiplier, and collaboration and communication tool. The processes around how work is done don’t have to be hard. So, if you need some help in addressing these work productivity roadblocks, see if Flujo is a viable option for your company.