Every business suffers from employee downtime. It can be frustrating for the business owner, managers, and other employees as it inevitably affects workloads and deadlines alike. Therefore, it stands to reason that you would want to know how to reduce this time to a complete minimum or at least a rare occurrence. This is how you can do just that.
Step 1: Remove distractions
Although there is no reason why you would not want your employees to stop and chat occasionally, as this increases employee morale, it is unlikely that you are going to be so happy with them chatting for half the day and not getting any work done.
One of the easiest ways to manage this social time is to reduce the number of distractions that are around your office area. Request that people leave their phones in their bags until lunchtime or turn off notifications if they must have them on their desks. Limit certain website use, such as social media, on their computers and provide noise-blocking headphones so they can work in peace and focus. While you might be tempted to ask people to remove personal photos or objects because they are conversation pieces or avoid hanging up posters that will induce comments or a full-scale debate, this is not the best approach. You still want your place of work to be an environment atmosphere with a great culture.
Step 2: Install risk management software
Of course, not all downtime is down to employees chatting to each other. Some can be down to a series of procedures, technical glitches, or external issues, to mention a few.
This is when it is particularly handy to have GRC software solutions installed on your system. GRC software or Governance, Risk & Compliant software will be able to provide important insight ahead of time into any issues that could arise – including risks that would cause downtime throughout your business. This means that you will be able to react before the fact and therefore minimize any disruption to your working schedule.
Step 3: Train employees and offer mentorship
Of course, some of the downtime your business experiences could be due to your employees having gaps in their knowledge. You can get around this by training all of your employees in their job roles and providing them with a refresher or updating courses to keep their knowledge current and up to date.
Not everyone can remember everything they are taught – unless they repeat it regularly, you should introduce a mentoring system. This will allow your employees access to a highly experienced and knowledgeable employee who will be able to answer questions and refresh their memory without disturbing co-workers close to hand.
This will certainly reduce the downtime caused by workers trying to help others and therefore not completing their workload. This also means that those who require additional help will be obtaining it from your chosen expert and not somebody who might not know what they are doing.
Also Read: Reasons Why London Is the Ideal City for Business
Final thoughts
While you can’t eradicate all the reasons for downtime, some are, within reason, avoidable. The above ways can be fantastic solutions for business owners looking to crack down on the ones they have more control over.