Too Many Time Wasters at Work Mean Shorter Hours Needed

Do you work for a company who has tasks that could actually be completed in five hours rather than eight?  Now I know some won't admit too much of anything, because hours equate dollars and no one wants to give up money.  But the truth of the matter is many companies spend far too much money keeping employees at the workplace for eight plus hours. Some tasks simply can be done in less than eight hours.

 

If you are a boss, rather than cut jobs out altogether, consider part-time hours.  Observe your staff a little more closely.  How much time is being allotted to do routine things?  Is it especially important to have time set aside to check several ways to communicate ie.) email, text, voice mail etc. when maybe all you need is one?  What about fax machine and copier tasks, do these duties have to be done daily?  How about break times ie. ) for smoking and personal conversation at cubicles, over the phone, and the water coolers, how often and for how long is this going on?  Are birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and other holidays necessary to celebrate at work?  How long are lunches? There are also those workers who take much time seeking parking and walking to work, can this time be streamlined?

 

 Make a list of the time wasters and note the approximate time employees are taking up time doing things like:  eating at their desks, opening emails, surfing on the Internet, and other things.  You know that too much comfort can take away from valuable tasks being done such as: calling clients back, running company errands, filing paperwork, typing documentation etc.  Sometimes laying off people is not the solution, but cutting back hours is.

 

Once you factor in all the time that is being directed to these activities, you will find that much time during the workdays are being wasted.  Consider having a meeting with your leaders sharing your findings and then proceed to make necessary arrangements.  Do include the cost savings to the company.

 

Here are some workplace time wasters you may not have thought about:

• Slow computers and other office equipment that could generate faster output.
• Making adjustments to an electronic device from an ipod to a watch.
• Eating snacks every 30 minutes.
• Standing in long lunch lines.
• Answering phone calls and email from fellow co-workers.
• Walking to a bathroom on the other side of the building.
• Walking to the snack machine on the other side of the building.
• Filing, faxing, or typing information  that really don't need to be handled in one or all of these ways.

Can you think of some more?

 

 

 Nicholl McGuire is the author of a variety of books and journals including: My Business Plan on Blurb.com