{"id":23553,"date":"2022-05-25T11:42:11","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T10:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/?p=23553"},"modified":"2025-10-24T17:36:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:36:47","slug":"productivity-tips-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/productivity-tips-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Improve Productivity: 10 Tips for Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The internet is bursting with all kinds of small business productivity tips. It seems like everyone has an opinion on \u201cthe best way\u201d to do just about anything you can imagine.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But how do you know which of these \u201chacks\u201d should be a priority in your small business, and where should you start? We\u2019ve rounded up 10 of the top tips to get you started: things you can do to streamline your workflows without busting your budget.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s get started:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#productivitycrucial\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is productivity so crucial for small businesses?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#productivitytips\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10 productivity tips for small businesses<\/span><\/a>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#prioritisetasks\">Prioritise your tasks<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#streamlinecommunication\">Streamline communication<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#delegatetasks\">Delegate<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#automateprocesses\">Automate processes<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#lesstoggling\">Introduce less toggling<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#positiveenvironment\">Create a positive environment<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#smartgoals\">Set SMART goals<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#monitor\">Monitor and analyse<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#learn\">Learn from your team<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"#structure\">Structure your day<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\t\t<style>\r\n\t\t\t@media (min-width: 768px) {\r\n\t\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-img {\r\n\t\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\r\n\t\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\r\n\t\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-img img {\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta {\r\n\t\t\t\tbackground: #001138;\r\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 30px;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-copy {\r\n\t\t\t\tpadding: 0 30px;\r\n\t\t\t\toverflow: hidden;\r\n\t\t\t\tcolor: #fff;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\r\n\t\t\t.bottom-cta .bottom-cta-copy .btn-primary {\r\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\r\n\t\t\t}\r\n\t\t<\/style>\r\n\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta  CID-cta-2FdM5dTp IID-cta-69d43cc71434b\"\r\n\t\t\tdata-dl-custom-type=\"cta\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-img\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Asian-man-on-phone-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Call to action banner\">\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"bottom-cta-copy\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<span style=\"font-size: 24px; line-height: 30px;\">There are plenty of ways to get time back<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"text-center\" style=\"display: block;\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rc-cta-shortcode btn btn-primary btn-lg\" data-dl-element=\"button\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg\" style=\"margin-top: 16px; font-weight: bold;\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\ttitle=\"Read the eBook\" href=\"https:\/\/netstorage.ringcentral.com\/uk\/report\/power-of-voice-communication.pdf\" target=\"_blank\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\trel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-dl-additional-info=\"There are plenty of ways to get time back\"\r\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-dl-name=\"There are plenty of ways to get time back | Get more tips on streamlining your business\">Get more tips on streamlining your business<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\n<h2 id=\"productivitycrucial\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why improving productivity is crucial for small businesses<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Running your own business can be challenging. Unlike long established players, you\u2019re doing everything on your own with little backup. Every minute in the day counts, and the more time you can spend growing your customer base, the better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to make sure you\u2019re working smarter, not harder, and streamlining clunky workflows. So let\u2019s look at some easy ways to get more productive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"productivitytips\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10 productivity tips for small businesses<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3 id=\"prioritisetasks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Prioritise your tasks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a small business owner, you\u2019ll have plenty of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly tasks keeping you busy. So, including non-critical <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/work-from-home-jobs\/\">jobs<\/a> on your task list can lead to procrastination and affect your business capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rather than occupying yourself with less vital chores, prioritise your tasks to identify the urgent points that need immediate action. Do this by creating a list and identifying which tasks your business <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">really<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> needs to survive. For instance, paying suppliers weekly is an important task you can\u2019t postpone, or your business will come to a standstill.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prioritising your tasks lets you improve your <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/effective-time-management\/\">time management<\/a> and streamline your workflows. It also builds consistent habits and ensures you\u2019re focusing on the right areas to boost your business outcomes. Simple tools like Google Calendar can help with this.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"streamlinecommunication\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Use collaboration software to streamline communication (and pay bills)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The modern workspace isn\u2019t just office-based. With growing numbers of remote workers and virtual teams, a workday can mean something different to team members needing to work together from various locations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s where <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/collaboration-among-employees\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">collaboration software<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> comes in handy. Your team can stay connected, no matter where they work, thanks to <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/benefits-cloud-communications-small-businesses\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cloud-based communications<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Today, there are lots of options out there that combine the various communications software you need in one app. If all of your various tech is through a single provider, <\/span><b>that\u2019s <\/b><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/benefits-moving-cloud-communications\/\"><b>fewer vendors<\/b><\/a><b> to keep track of when it\u2019s time to pay the bills.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The right collaboration software should include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/workplace-chat-software-alternatives\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Team messaging<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/video-conferencing-software\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Video conferencing<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easy <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/us\/en\/blog\/ways-to-use-free-file-sharing-in-your-ringcentral-app\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">file sharing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and storage (take a look at the gif below to see what easy file sharing looks like in action)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Task management<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bonus: your <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/google-voice-alternatives-for-businesses-uk\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">business phone<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> folded in with the rest of the features, so all your communications are in one place.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-23632\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Send-file.gif\" alt=\"Send file-486\" width=\"539\" height=\"1166\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Psst: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/solutions\/small-business.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> does all of this, and more. That\u2019s why small businesses love us!)<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"delegatetasks\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Delegate less critical tasks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the end of the day, delegation is vital to increase productivity, regardless of whether you\u2019re a solo entrepreneur or you have a team of employees at your disposal (either on-premises or working from home).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Handing tasks to employees lets you get more done with your limited time, as employees can work in tandem instead of waiting for you to finish. Additionally, outsourcing specialised tasks to domain experts accomplishes them quicker. It boosts efficiency and productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With simpler tasks, you can delegate any you need, such as writing blog posts, email templates redesign, or creating white papers for your website to a member of your marketing team. This is also an ideal opportunity for less experienced team employees to gain an understanding of new roles and responsibilities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"automateprocesses\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Automate processes where you can<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every business has repetitive and mundane manual tasks. While these tasks are critical to the functioning of your business, such as email marketing, they\u2019re time-consuming and slow down your workflow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By investing in automation software, you can oversee a digital transformation of your business architecture that will save you and your employees time, boosting your small business productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, instead of manually posting digital marketing campaigns across social media, you can use apps to schedule posts days, weeks or months in advance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These new technologies improve functionality allowing for better multitasking and letting your employees focus on more complex tasks. Additionally, many SaaS automation tools can integrate well with your technology architecture, meaning low implementation costs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other tasks suitable for automation include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/call-routing-faqs-how-to-divert-calls-redirect-and-more\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Call routing\/voice response menu<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Invoicing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Payroll<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Data centre backups<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marketing<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tax calculations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/long-lasting-customer-relationships\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sales automation<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"lesstoggling\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Combine your tech for less toggling\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to a recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.growthbusiness.co.uk\/application-sprawl-uk-employees-use-12-apps-communicate-2551416\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">report<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, UK employees toggle between <\/span><b>12 different apps each day.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Between email and documents, team messaging and video chats, you can see how all the different apps add up, even for small businesses. That\u2019s real time, and money, lost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Technology is supposed to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">help<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> us be more productive, not stand in the way. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a great idea to get more of your apps living in the same place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are two tricks to get a more streamlined app stack:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Find an all-in-one cloud <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/communication-tools\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">communications tool <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that can grow with you<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">so<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> many <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/how-to-collaborate-more-effectively\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">communication channels<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> today, and that could mean your team toggles between these separate channel apps all day, every day. Luckily, there are some helpful apps that collapse your biggest communication channels into a single, easy-to-use app. You\u2019ll get your business phone, team messaging and video conferencing all in the same app.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/\">all-in-one app<\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> looks, from desktop and mobile devices alike. You can easily flip between voice and video calls, and read all of your team messages, too!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23555\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Call-to-video-flip.gif\" alt=\"Call-to-video-flip-319\" width=\"1280\" height=\"800\" \/><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Use app integrations to combine even more workstreams<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you use a CRM to track all your customer data? What about file-sharing and productivity apps like Google Workspace and Trello? The most popular business apps today can often plug in smoothly to your more central software. That means less toggling and more productivity for your small business team.<\/span><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 840px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-23553-1\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" loop=\"1\" autoplay=\"1\" preload=\"auto\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/03_RC-for-Salesforce_1920x1080-1.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/03_RC-for-Salesforce_1920x1080-1.mp4\">\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/03_RC-for-Salesforce_1920x1080-1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/ringcentral-answers\/ringcentral-for-salesforce\/#Benefits_of_using_RingCentral_for_Salesforce\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RingCentral integrates with Salesforce<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (and over 100 other apps), so <\/span><b>you can make and record calls right within Salesforce<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"positiveenvironment\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Build a positive working environment<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When employees feel valued, <\/span><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/why-does-employee-experience-matter\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">their satisfaction increases<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and they\u2019re motivated to complete their tasks. So, to boost productivity and create a successful business, you must ensure you build a healthy work environment into your business model.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t worry: this doesn\u2019t mean installing on-site gyms or building a company campus, like Google or Facebook. It\u2019s about acknowledging employee contributions and rewarding them in any way you can, big or small. Consider things like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Office parties<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Team dinners<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/great-wait-debate\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flexible working<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> options, like work-from-anywhere<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Training and development<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employee-of-the-month<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"smartgoals\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Create SMART goals<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your business goals are vital to building a productive small business. It\u2019s how your employees understand your business vision and how they can contribute to it. Whether you\u2019re a startup or a one-person show, it\u2019s vital your goals are realistic, well-defined and in line with your business strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, make your goals SMART:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Specific<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measurable<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Achievable<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Realistic<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Timely<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, if you want to improve IT infrastructure or IT architecture, it\u2019s not enough to just say it. A SMART goal might be to train an employee over six months to manage IT infrastructure and architecture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the first instance, the goal is vague and has no start or endpoint, leaving it open and likely postponed in place of more urgent tasks. In the second, it has a specific aim; the amount of time and end goal, so it\u2019s likely to be actioned quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"monitor\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8. Monitor, analyse and adjust your goals<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s vital to monitor a SMART goal to ensure you\u2019re on track to accomplish it. Similarly, to ensure maximum business productivity and meet your goals, you must measure employee performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can do this by using KPIs and monitoring vital metrics to identify productivity issues and resolve them, such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Task time tracking<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Project completion time<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Revenue-per-employee<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proficiency levels<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using analytics tools, you can see which employees struggle to keep up with their workload and the tasks taking longer than usual. It lets you develop new strategies or create training plans to improve performance and productivity in those areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By monitoring employee and business performances, you can improve your decision-making methodology and ensure you don\u2019t stray from your business roadmap.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"learn\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9. Learn from your team<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monitoring your employees tells you where a process has gone wrong, but not why. Understanding this involves talking to your team and learning from their experiences.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, getting your workers to open up can be difficult. Employees may not want to admit they\u2019re struggling with specific workloads or tasks, such as project portfolio management, especially if business practices or organisational structure is at fault. Consider using anonymous surveys or designating a representative to relay the issues to you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your employees move the needle in your business. If they face issues, that needle will slow down to zero. Listening to them and taking their advice will increase productivity and highlight many other problems you might not even be looking for, such as company culture, engagement or how flexible working improves productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Listening can (and should) happen both in informal settings, like on-the-fly chats, and more formal and confidential environments, like regular reviews and employee surveys.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 id=\"structure\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10. Structure your day in chunks<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your time is important. As a small business owner, you often have various tasks that need your attention. Jumping between different tasks or constantly checking emails as they come in can break up your workflow, making it difficult to tick items off your to-do list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By structuring your day in chunks, you can stay focused for short periods on one task. It improves your time and task management, ensuring you spend enough time on each task and driving your productivity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, you can carve up your day into half-hour chunks and assign one task per chunk, like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating business documents like risk management plans<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Checking emails<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Updating business social media like LinkedIn posts<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Creating posters or ad campaigns<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By doing this and taking regular breaks, you can create daily habits to help you clear your to-do list without getting distracted or leaving tasks unfinished.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Small business productivity: Make the most of your time<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are plenty of ways to improve productivity in your small business especially when using the right technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By using productivity hacks like the ones listed here, you can change your working habits for the better and increase the efficiency of your workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By prioritising tasks, making SMART goals, monitoring your business performance, and listening to your employees, you can develop strategies and employ new technologies to do more work in less time. It will help your business do more, increasing revenue and boosting growth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The internet is bursting with all kinds of small business productivity tips. It seems like everyone has an opinion on \u201cthe best way\u201d to do just about anything you can &hellip; <a href=\"\/gb\/en\/blog\/productivity-tips-small-businesses\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;How To Improve Productivity: 10 Tips for Small Businesses&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":23557,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[271,9],"tags":[74,37],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>10 Tips To Improve Small Business Productivity | RingCentral UK Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The more time you can spend growing your customer base, the better. Here are 10 productivity tips for your small business.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ringcentral.com\/gb\/en\/blog\/productivity-tips-small-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samantha Clayton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"10 Tips To Improve Small Business Productivity | RingCentral UK Blog","description":"The more time you can spend growing your customer base, the better. 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Before joining the business, she worked in content and public relations roles. She has worked with companies in ed tech, marketing and advertising, connected home, telecoms and publishing. She has a BA in English Literature and an interest in story writing. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and live music.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/claytonsamantha\/"],"url":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/author\/samantha-clayton\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23553"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/gb\/en\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}