Employers are always looking for ways to boost productivity in the office and minimise activities that waste time. Companies can lose valuable time and money if time spent in the office is not managed properly. We will look at three of the worst time wasters in the office and discuss a few suggestions on how to overcome them.

Cyberloafing:
Some studies have shown that cyberloafing can be a good morale booster in the office and can even improve productivity. However, when it comes to a point where work isn't getting done because too much time is spent watching viral videos, Facebooking or browsing the web, there are a few steps that can be taken.
Firstly, each company should decide their own acceptable standards. Blocking social media sites so employees can't access them could make them feel that their employers don't trust them, and in turn have the opposite effect to boosting morale. Secondly, as a standard, employers should let their employees know that their browsing activities could be monitored.Make sure your staff has enough work to keep them busy and reassess their work schedules every six months to keep them challenged and adjust their growth.

Interruptions:
In a TED talk by Jason Fried, he points out that staff, especially creative staff like writers, designers, developers and engineers, need long stretches of uninterrupted time to fully concentrate and get the job done. He compares concentration to a sleeping pattern. When sleep is interrupted, one has to start over and try to fall asleep again. If concentration is interrupted, it has the same effect, as it takes a while to get your concentration back to where it was.

According to the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980's, long stretches of time are not necessarily the answer. On the contrary, his technique requires 25 minutes of concentration and then a short 5 minute break before continuing the process again. This method is based on the idea that these short intervals can increase mental sharpness and agility.
Whatever your concentration pattern, untimely interruptions are never welcome. Instead of interrupting colleagues or employees at desks, rather send them an email. This way, interruptions are minimised and they can attend to tasks on their own schedule.

Meetings:
Meetings are often time consuming and tend to be a dull affair. Scheduling a one hour meeting is not just a one hour meeting. If ten employees are attending the meeting, then ten hours are taken out of your company's time.

Try cancelling future internal meetings and rather catch up at the water cooler. Have more one on one discussions with relevant people, rather than include the entire technical team to discuss sales tactics. Another suggestion is to send an email detailing progress to the team, making sure everyone is on the same page. This will surely take each team member less than an hour to read and respond.

Trying to have too much control over how employees spend their time at work puts employers in danger of micro managing. Try hiring staff that has a respect for your business and company time from the start. In conclusion, a good balance should be sustained between cutting out time wasters without destroying morale in your office.

Lorraine Coetzee is a writer for Sound Idea Digital | Lorraine@soundidea.co.za | Sound Idea Digital | www.soundidea.co.za