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Playster CEO Philip Keezer’s Tips For Increasing Productivity
In addition to an innovative idea, a strong team and an unfaltering belief that your small business has the potential to grow and change the world, one of the most important keys to entrepreneurial success is the ability to maximize productivity.
There’s no set formula for ensuring that all employees are working at max efficiency at all times, but there are several trips that can help increase a company’s overall productivity and they’re all quite simple, actually. Implement these hacks in any working environment and you’ll soon find everyone’s productivity levels rising with minimal effort.
Don’t worry: They’re really not big changes. Making even the slightest adjustments to how day-to-day operations are run can have a big impact. Philip Keezer, a Canadian entrepreneur who founded Playster, the world’s first all-in-one streaming service, knows about this all too well.
“Over my many years of founding, nurturing and growing startups, I’ve found that certain tips and tricks work better than others when it comes to increasing my personal productivity, as well as my team’s, and getting things done efficiently,” says Philip Keezer.
“Believe it or not, the importance of taking regular breaks is one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as an entrepreneur,” continues Keezer. “I know for me, personally, my initial instinct when I start to feel tired is just to push through and keep working. The best thing to do, however, is actually the opposite. Taking a small break in times of need can help you regain focus and return to the project at hand feeling re-invigorated. By briefly walking away from the task you’re working on, you might even discover a new way to see things or a fresh way to approach a problem.”
As a CEO and entrepreneur, delegating is also imperative. “You need to trust your team wholeheartedly. You can’t be afraid to delegate tasks, no matter how tempting it might seem to just do everything yourself,” says Philip Keezer.
“Entrepreneurs can be especially protective of their companies, but trying to multi-task and do everything at once usually results in things not being executed to their fullest potential. Which is the exact opposite of what you want. So give up the reins, at least a little bit, and let your team’s talents flourish. After all, you hired them for a reason!” concludes Keezer.
Last but definitely not least, Philip Keezer also stresses the importance of shaking things up when it comes to meetings. Whether you hold meetings every day, every week or once a month, there’s no denying the fact that meetings have a tendency to last longer than is necessary and to not accomplish a whole lot. Truth be told, it’s rare that game-changing ideas and solutions are actually put forth behind closed-door meetings.
“Whenever you need to discuss something within a group, stay away from the temptation to sit down and lock yourself in a room for hours,” says Keezer. “Instead, hold a standing meeting in your area of the office. This will catch everyone’s attention -- and keep it -- and encourage those involved to focus on the issue at hand, rather than letting their thoughts wander off.”
Putting phones away and not looking at computer screens (unless necessary, of course) can also help get everyone focused on the real reason for having the meeting and encourage faster problem-solving and increased engagement.
As Philip Keezer writes on his blog, “Inc. explains that “standing meetings can result in increased group arousal, decreased territoriality, and improved group performance.” In other words, you’ll likely discover a strong solution or come to a satisfying conclusion in record time.”
If you want even more advice on increasing productivity and all aspects of running a startup, you can follow Keezer on Twitter and Facebook.
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