Common Distractions in the Work Place
Time is money, so the saying goes. Therefore, if you have employees wasting time during business hours, they are in effect wasting your money. National Business Capital strives to help you maximize profits so we would like to share the following study.
A national online study was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from February 10, 2014 to March 4, 2014. The study found that one in four workers admitted they spend approximately one hour per day on personal activities when they should be working. But it’s not just sneaking in personal emails and phone calls that distract workers in the office. Here is a list of the ten most disruptive things in an office:
1) Cell phone/texting – 50 percent
2) Gossip – 42 percent
3) The Internet – 39 percent
4) Social media – 38 percent
5) Snack breaks or smoke breaks – 27 percent
6) Noisy co-workers – 24 percent
7) Meetings – 23 percent
8) Email – 23 percent
9) Co-workers dropping by – 23 percent
10) Co-workers putting calls on speaker phone – 10 percent
What do you think is the biggest distraction to your employees and how can you curb them? Here are some suggestions made by CareerBuilder:
1) Organize and prioritize – De-clutter your workspace and clearly lay out your game plan for the week. What do you need to accomplish each day? How much time will each project take? Which projects have the highest priority?
2) Limit interruptions – Incoming calls and co-workers dropping by to chat about their weekend can break your concentration and eat up time. Block off a conference room to work on a project to avoid distractions at your desk. Read your email at intervals instead of opening each one as soon as it comes in. Consider telecommuting on certain days.
3) Avoid unnecessary meetings – Don’t set aside an hour to meet about an issue or initiative that can be addressed with a quick phone call. Politely decline the meeting invitation and follow up with the organizer.
4) Get personal on your own time – Whether you want to call a friend, take advantage of an online sale or post a picture of your dog on your social profile, do it during your lunch hour or break time or after work.
5) Communicate wisely – Don’t spend 20 minutes crafting an email to the person sitting in the next cubicle. Save time by picking up the phone or walking over to your colleague’s desk.
6) Don’t delay the inevitable – Finding other things to do so you can put off a less preferred project will only end up wasting more time. Don’t procrastinate. Dive in and tackle the task at hand.
We hope these tips help your workers be more productive! Remember, for all of your business finance needs, National Business Capital is here for you. Call us to learn how we can help!
Megan Capobianco is the Marketing Manager at National Business Capital. Megan is passionate about helping business owners along their journey - providing them with relevant content they can use in their day-to-day operations.
