As a business owner, management is one of the many hats you have to wear. Aside from reprimanding and rewarding, setting goals and expectations, one of your primary duties is to help your team get the job done. If you’re worried that they’re not as efficient, and therefore not as productive, as they could be, then these are some of the ways you might help to optimize them.

Teach them the tools to manage their workday

One of the reasons that some workers can find it difficult to be efficient with their work is that they have multiple duties but also have difficulty in structuring their day so that they’re able to meet all of them. Providing them with the tools to structure their day, and teaching them how to use them, such as breaking the day into time blocks can help them find a much more organized approach to their work day. It also gets rid of the choice paralysis that can see them sitting motionless for 15 or 30 minutes at a time trying to figure out what to do next.

Ensure they’re working at their best times

Depending on how you handle work hours in the business, there might be some flexibility you could afford your team to help them work when they are at their most productive. With digital rota software, you could make it easier for your team to find the flexibility they need to work when they’re most likely to be working at their best. You can also make sure that you’re not over-scheduling them with shift after shift in quick succession, which would lead to anyone dropping in productivity.

Dealing with the demon of distraction

Everyone has to deal with distractions. That a member of the team finds themselves prone to distraction does not mean that they’re a bad worker or not taking their job seriously. Sometimes, it might be that they need help focusing. This might mean ensuring that they have a proper working space where the goings on in the office are a lot less likely to break their concentration. Sometimes, you can help with website blocking tools that can help them maintain their focus. Sometimes, they simply need a break or a chance to take on another task to help refresh their minds.

Ensure their technology doesn’t give out on them

Efficiency isn’t just a matter of managing your human resources well, either. You should make sure that the tools that your team is using to work are reliable and, even when they do fail, it’s easy to get them back online. Working with an IT support team can make sure that there’s always someone there to help get work tools and networks can online as quickly as possible when they do go down. They can also look at some of the most common causes of downtime, eliminating them so that such interruptions are less likely to arise in the first place.

If there’s an overall productivity or efficiency problem in your workplace, it’s not the fault of individual workers, but the systems that support them. Be sure to always address the issue from a systematic approach first.