What are your biggest barriers to productivity? Low morale and sluggish motivation? A lack of focus? Or clutter, procrastination and time eaten up by small, repetitive tasks?

When it comes to improving your organization's overall productivity, small things can count as much as the big things. Wasted seconds add up over time, and what looks like minimal disorganization can create distraction. And if employees aren't sure who they're serving or what their focus should be, they may lack the motivation to do their jobs well.

A more productive workplace is ultimately a more profitable and enjoyable workplace. In order to maximize productivity, an organization must:

1. Eliminate clutter and other drains on time and energy.
2. Have a clear mission and communicate that mission to employees.
3. Help employees use their time and skills efficiently.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get a handle on your time and space

Clutter and lack of focus can eat up productivity. Consider hiring a professional or attending a training program that will help you manage your time and space more effectively.

I recommend: Mind Tools offers self-study programs and personal coaching about time and space management and more.

Create a mission statement

It's important that you understand your organization's goals — and your own.

I recommend: Franklin-Covey offers Mission Statement Builder, an interactive program that will help you create and use a mission statement.

Learn ways to create a culture of productivity

Employees work best when they're inherently motivated, instead of micromanaged. But it can be hard to strike the balance between teamwork and independence and to supervise without stifling. A team-building consultant can help.

I recommend: Strictly Success offers on-site workshops on leadership, teambuilding and motivation.

Cut down on paper

Flipping through files can use up valuable time.

I recommend: Taming the Paper Tiger Filing System allows you to store copies of paper documents on your hard drive and search for them using keywords.

Use software to take care of time-consuming tasks so you can work smarter, not harder.

Why spend valuable time searching for files or cleaning up spyware? Productivity-improving software saves you time by automating routine tasks like these and others.

I recommend: Tethys Solutions offers productivity software for individuals and workgroups.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make sure everyone — including the boss — gets a vacation. Research shows that workers are more productive when they get time off to recharge their batteries.
• •  Provide employees with opportunities to further their training and education.
• •  Get a handle on email. Set aside blocks of time each day to check and respond to email messages instead of checking all day long.