How Can an HR Manager Minimize Workplace Distractions?

How Can an HR Manager Minimize Workplace Distractions?

From research, a big percentage of employees believe they could complete their tasks in fewer hours without interruptions. A lot of time is spent by workers doing other things than their main duties. Technology has shifted workplace productivity over the years. In as much as it has excellent benefits, it is a major cause of workplace distraction.

Your workers are dealing with social media notifications, email notifications, instant messages, and reducing office spaces. Technology has also increased multitasking which is not healthy for productivity. Constant workplace distractions make your workers less productive and stressed.

Being focused on a task builds concentration and full attention to that task. You become more productive and reduce errors that are caused by distraction. As a manager, how do you minimize workplace distractions and improve productivity?

Limit Social Media Use

Your workers spend almost 10% of their work on phones on things not related to work. They mostly use phones to access social media sites. Social media is a big distraction of people from work. You should limit the time your workers spend on social media. However, you can’t go blocking each of your worker’s social media.

They will lose trust and respect for you, and again, you will be wasting your time. So how do you limit social media use at work? You can communicate clear expectations in respect to social media use, be an example of when and how to use social media for work, or create a work environment that your workers can get lost in and forget about social media.

Minimize Administrative Tasks

A big percentage of workers say they feel they waste time on administrative tasks that don’t add value to your company. Administrative tasks include data entry, creating reports, attending meetings, replying to emails among others. However, administrative tasks are necessary but can be distracting and time-wasting.

Minimizing them is minimizing the distractions that pull your workers away from their duties. You need to regularly assess how your workers are carrying out administrative tasks. This will help you identify and minimize unnecessary steps in doing the tasks. Since there are changes in workers, company objectives, and technology, processes that tasks undergo also require change. Change is necessary and it improves efficiency.

Embrace Technological Advancements

It is time to ditch the use of paper calendars and spreadsheets in your organization. Invest in the latest digital platforms as they streamline tasks. According to the operations of your company, there are tools available that can do them all. The digital tools allow customization, provide support throughout the day, and regularly update you on what is trending and important.

These tools increase the engagement of your workers reducing distractions. A digital platform may be costly but it helps your organization cut more costs. This is because it makes scheduling effective and communication smooth.

Lighten Perception of Work Load

Some employees when asked why they don’t do their job well say it’s because they are asked to do too much. The perception of an unreasonable load of work assigned to them stresses them, slows them down, and distracts them from work.

When a worker thinks that the time available to complete tasks is less compared to the many tasks ahead, he or she procrastinates and works slower. As a manager, you should lighten the way your workers feel about their workload. Even without lightening the workload itself, your workers will get down to work.

Break Big Projects into Smaller Tasks

Big projects take time to complete. If your workers don’t have a clear objective or purpose in the project, they may lose interest and feel their contribution is irrelevant. Once your worker gets bored at work, he or she will start looking for other things to engage in. For example, social media, sleep, or talking to coworkers.

This will lead to distraction from work and reduced productivity.  As a manager, you should ensure your organization breaks down big tasks and projects into daily smaller tasks. Smaller tasks are more manageable and engage the workers. Your workers give continuous feedback on their progress to complete the large projects.

Handle One Project at a Time

Handling many roles at a time distracts you. You should help your workers focus on single projects at a time rather than having them switch from one task to another. You should encourage your workers to take breaks between completed tasks and another project.

As their manager, give them feedback and direction on which tasks are a priority. Also, encourage your workers to write down their daily objectives. Writing their goals down helps them follow through and improve their accountability. They are more motivated and strengthen their focus.

Promote Self-Management

Micromanaging your workers in every detail might make them think you don’t trust them. When a worker thinks you don’t trust their abilities, they get discouraged. They may start looking for other opportunities where an organization trusts its workers.

On the other hand, when you empower your workers to manage themselves, you let them showcase their abilities to you. This helps lighten the perception of their workload. You strengthen their skills in managing their time and projects. Accepting what they are supposed to do helps them reduce distractions and work.

Compensate People Accordingly

Undervaluing your workers is one of the biggest causes of low productivity. As a manager, you have to keep in mind that your workers make the most of their time at work. You need to offer them competitive salaries, benefits, and compensations.

To add, you must also recognize the best achievers in your company. Compensating your workers can be in many forms. For example, giving them positive feedback and giving them time offs for tasks completed early. Compensation is not just about paychecks. Doing this makes your workers feel valued. They will feel a connection to your organization and concentrate on work hence reducing distractions.

Flexibility

Your workers are also people who have their personal lives outside the workplace. They have families, friends, vacations, hobbies, and other things that matter to them. Their work also interferes with their personal lives. As a manager, you should create a workplace that offers flexibility for a worker to fulfill the requirements of his or her personal life. Your workers value flexibility and creating flexibility opportunities for them increases their loyalty to your company. Giving flexible schedules to your workers will reduce distractions at the workplace since your workers will have time to do what they like.

Limit Layers of Approval

Your workers will always have requests. For example, requests for leaves, salary increments, improving the condition of the workplace, and many others. These requests are sometimes sent to the HR team before they are forwarded to the management. Some requests are urgent to workers while others take time.

According to the hierarchy of your organization’s management, before an employee gets approval of his or her request it may take time. While there may be necessary approval layers, some issues are minor and don’t require layers of approval. Stripping away the request approval layers of minor issues means fewer interruptions for your workers.

Availability of Resources

In your workplace, there are resources and materials needed for the job to be done. Exhausting or running low on resources can distract your workers. This is because they must contact the management to have the supplies restocked. Maintaining a workplace that is well stocked with the required resources ensures your workers are not distracted nor do they waste time.  

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