How To Track Employee Performance WITHOUT Micromanaging
In today’s world, there are so many distractions in the office.
From smartphones to the Internet, employees are wasting time socialising and searching online during office hours.
Even those who are trying to focus on work may not be as productive as they should, working slowly or not efficiently.
Therefore, it is beneficial to managers to track the performance of their staff.
This can provide invaluable insight into what employees are doing during the day, how fast they are working, and what their strength and weaknesses are.
There are several approaches to tracking employees’ performance, such as:
Involvement
The oldest trick to finding out what employees are up to is to get involved in office life.
Managers are often swamped with their own load of work, clients and reporting to their bosses, which keeps them in the confines of their own office.
However, it is imperative that supervisors walk around their department, observing what their staff are working on, and how they are doing it.
Ask your staff to provide you with updates on their progress and completion of tasks.
By writing these down and analysing the results, you can see how quickly projects get done, who is doing them faster, and who needs some help.
Self-Monitoring
Some companies install video cameras and track staff’s Internet usage, which often makes employees feel uncomfortable, as if Big Brother is watching them.
Instead, a better technique is to train employees to self-monitor their own activities.
Install time tracking devices on their computers, and ask them to track their own time on each activity.
You can also utilise project management software, such as Basecamp, so that all members of your team can have access to each other’s’ work.
Employees can provide notes on what they’re working on, check off items that have been completed, and stay in communication with you about the process the entire time.
Communication
A great way to stay involved in employee productivity tracking is to have open and regular communication with your team.
It could be that a certain individual is slow to turn in work simply because he or she is not clear on the instructions.
Without communicating with that person, you can simply believe him to be incompetent, but with just a few words exchanged and clarified, the work can be turned it correctly and on time.
Set up weekly team meetings where you discuss goals, current projects and deadlines.
Ask your employees if they are satisfied with their efficiency, or need help in some areas.
Communication can go a long way in helping your department and your employees are productive.
In today’s world, there are so many distractions in the office.
