Large companies face many unique challenges. From people management to communication and collaboration, enterprise firms with multiple levels, locations, divisions, and departments often struggle with a number of obstacles that can lead to productivity issues. However, with the right tools and strategies in place, enterprise productivity can quickly be improved and optimized.
Keep reading to learn about some of the most common productivity challenges enterprise organizations face, as well as ways to boost office productivity and, ultimately, the bottom line.
Why office productivity matters in large organizations
Before diving into specific productivity challenges and their solutions, it’s important to understand why office productivity is so important, particularly for enterprise companies. Most obviously, productivity is directly tied to profitability, which is typically the number-one objective of any corporate enterprise.
But, there are plenty of other good reasons why productivity should be a top priority for large companies. Here are just a few:
- Improved morale
Believe it or not, improved productivity has an impact on employee morale, and vice-versa. Happy employees who enjoy a good work-life balance are more invested in the success of the company, and when managers help team members become more organized and productive, morale tends to go up. This creates a feedback loop of positivity and productivity. - Increased engagement
When employees have more work on their plate than they can realistically handle, it can lead to a lack of focus and decreased productivity. Conversely, organizations that focus on refining processes and aligning expectations more realistically tend to see an increase in engagement, which again creates a positive feedback loop when it comes to productivity. - Better customer service
Of course, well-adjusted workers who are satisfied and productive in their roles are able to provide much better customer service than tired, burned-out employees. Additionally, more productive teams and divisions within an enterprise are able to produce deliverables on time and on budget, which is one of the best forms of customer service you can offer. - Lowered operational costs
Productivity is a product of efficiency — and an efficient organization is a cost-effective one. Helping your employees improve productivity, therefore, will have a direct impact on your enterprise’s operational costs.
Common challenges to productivity in the workplace
Now that we know why enterprise productivity is so important, let’s look at some of the most common productivity challenges large companies face.
- Inefficient processes
Inefficient processes are one of the biggest impediments to productivity in the workplace. Without well-defined processes and a process improvement plan, team members can quickly get bogged down in a to-do list without clear focus on priorities. This often leads to multitasking. Even though multitasking may seem like the shortcut to getting more done, it’s actually a massive detriment to productivity with studies showing it can lower productivity by up to 40%. - Poor tracking
Another major productivity challenge is poor tracking (like a project time tracking spreadsheet) and project management. When managers are constantly seeking updates from employees, it leads to communication overhead and takes away from team member focus and productivity. - Communication overhead
What is communication overhead? Simply put, it’s the amount of time you spend communicating with your team instead of being productive. In other words, too many meetings, emails, and other communications hamper productivity. - Incomplete onboarding
When new hires are not onboarded properly, they come into their role with more questions than answers. This not only drains their own productivity but also takes away from the productivity of their teammates and managers who must spend more time coaching and helping them get up and running at full capacity. - Unrealistic expectations
One of the biggest productivity challenges is also one that’s rarely acknowledged among employers and employees alike. The fact is that everyone wants to get more done in less time — but, when employees are expected to complete a high volume of work at an unrealistic speed, it puts a damper on productivity.
How to increase productivity across enterprise companies
Though it may seem like an impossible task, increasing productivity in the workplace is absolutely achievable, even for enterprise operations. One of the easiest ways to start boosting productivity is to implement a software solution that can simultaneously help you build more efficient processes, track projects, monitor resource allocation, and communicate more effectively across the organization.
Fortunately, Wrike’s project management platform helps enterprise companies do all these things, plus much more. To see all the ways in which Wrike can help you increase productivity across your enterprise business, try our free two-week trial today.
