A profitable business is built on the backs of efficient employees. However, this efficiency is not always obtainable, especially if your employees struggle to prioritise their workload. As a manager and business owner, you need them to deliver the right projects on time so you can pass them on to clients or your boss, but this is not possible if you need to keep chasing employees up. If you have become frustrated with lackadaisical employee attitudes, here are four tips to help your employees improve their project prioritisation.
Help Them Identify Time-Sensitive Elements
Many employees will look at the easiest tasks first as they are usually low-stress but also low-priority. While they think they can complete these projects quickly, the simplicity can often cause complacency which means they spend far too long on small, insignificant details.
You can help them identify time-sensitive elements and projects to prevent multitasking and other common issues that prevent sensitive prioritisation. With them, highlight which projects need completing as soon as possible and direct them towards these. They may seem co,[plicated, but they should be easy enough once your employees get into the flow.
Make The Most Of Office Technology
You have an abundance of office technology at your disposal that you can use to help employees determine which projects are high priority and which can wait until everything else has been cleared.
One popular approach is Workforce management software that covers a broad range of features and functions to help you and the rest of your team track progress. This is vital for multi-layered projects concerning multiple departments, as it encourages employees to keep working so they do not delay the next stage.
Encourage Creativity Breaks
While efficiency is important, you cannot expect anyone to sit at a computer or desk all day without a break. There will come the point when their brain stops working and words on the page or graphs and images lose all meaning.
If this is a common cause of prioritisation problems, managers can encourage creativity breaks to boost productivity and give their employees a chance to get away from the desk for a while. They can recharge their brain and return to the project with a new perspective rather than sitting at their computer stressed and going around in circles.
Improve Your Communication
Poor communication can be a frustrating experience for your employees and could mean they struggle to understand what project you need to complete first. If you are all over the place with explanations or even fail to pass on crucial information, you can’t expect employees to know where to begin.
You can change this by outlining a project plan and timeline at the start of every new assignment. By detailing what you expect and what you need to do, your team will feel more confident and empowered, reducing time sitting around and helping them get on with projects.
Priorities
Outlining priorities can be challenging, especially for younger employees that don’t have as much experience. However, with these tips and your guidance, you can transform them into more efficient and productive team members that will allow you to deliver projects on time.