Creating a productive business environment leads to a healthier bottom line and happier employees. Want to boost your business’ efficiency? Here are 8 simple tips to get you started.

1. Automate tasks

Not every task can or should be automated, but automating tasks where you can frees up time so employees can focus their energy on more productive things.

2. Talk face-to-face

Emails are an essential business tool, but communicating this way within an office wastes time and causes miscommunication. If employees work in the same office, encourage them to talk with one another in person. If employees work remotely, encourage them to use an instant messaging platform so that conversations can happen in real-time (as opposed to spending the afternoon waiting for email responses.)

3. Limit interruptions

Having meetings spread out throughout the day and week can make it challenging for employees to complete tasks. Try to consolidate meetings and minimize interruptions so that employees don’t spend so much time reassessing where they left off.

4. Hold a 10-minute meeting daily

Whether it works best first thing in the morning or at the end of the day, briefly “touching base” each day promotes a collaborative atmosphere and provides accountability.

5. Focus on one task at a time

Multitasking may feel more productive, but it actually makes it harder to bring a task to completion. By focusing on completing a single task before moving onto the next, employees will inevitably have a higher rate of completion.

6. Discourage “got a minute?” meetings

“Got a minute” meetings are those ones that always end up taking more than a minute. Encourage your employees to schedule a specific, ideal time-frame to discuss a project. That way they can have a targeted, on-topic conversation that is more productive.

7. Follow the process

When employees deviate from the system you have set in place, something usually goes wrong. You have developed your processes for a reason. Make it a rule that your employees stick to these processes.

8. Promote open communication

A culture of open communication is not just one that encourages employees to talk about how they feel towards the company. More importantly, it is about providing an atmosphere where they can voice their ideas, feedback, and concerns on projects, processes, and concepts.