Top Three Ways To Improve Work Performance: My Best Tips

To improve work performance, you need to find the best practices for running your own company. If you narrow it down, practicing the top three ways to improve work performance becomes more manageable.

When it comes to improving workplace performance, there are many ways you can go about it. In the long run, your company will prosper if you and your team understand how to go in this direction.

UPDATED: MAY 5, 2023

Note: We may include products or services that will be helpful to our readers. This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please review the affiliate disclosure page.

What can you do differently to improve your performance?

Here, I will outline the best three methods for improving employee performance across a business. Authenticity, teamwork, and collaboration are essential elements of being an entrepreneur.

  1. Remove Distractions As Much As Possible
  2. Provide Excellent Training To Your Team
  3. Provide Constructive Feedback To Your Team
Top three ways to improve work performance: This post goes over my top three ways to improve work performance.

Tip # 1: Remove distractions as much as possible

In today’s world, distractions consume all of our free time. Even though the task is inevitable, it can be frustrating to realize how much time it takes.

In an office setting, you’re constantly at risk of interruption when doing large tasks.

It’s not easy if someone needs to contact you at any time when you are trying to finish a task.

Several studies have been conducted on the cost of interrupting. Getting interrupted regularly can cause someone to become stressed and work faster, according to one study.

The result is people rushing to get the job done. Having shoddy quality work, as a result, is not good.

Top three ways to improve work performance: A woman talking on her phone at the office. It's quite common see this as a distraction while working at the office.

Modern technology and electronics are the biggest distractions today.

While they’re supposed to assist us, the way electronics are used controls our behavior; in other words, people become more dependent on electronics (such as smartphones) for daily consumption.

Email notifications, text messages, and social media are all designed to distract you.

Top 3 Ways To Improve Work Performance For Your Business

Even for myself, it has interfered with my ability to get productive work done in the past. Although I’ve gotten better at minimizing my use of electronics, it is still a problem in society today.

How to minimize distractions

Communicating

As I mentioned earlier, distractions will be inevitable, but it’s possible to minimize them when necessary. Knowing how to handle them and implementing the right processes now will reap the benefits later on.

If you manage a team, you can open up to your team members about reducing distractions.

For yourself, letting them know specific times when you don’t want to be disturbed is a good heads-up.

If you need to focus between late morning-early afternoon hours, your team will know not to interfere with your work at that time. If you have a private office, closing your door is an unmistakable warning signal that you should not be bothered.

It may sound self-centered to tell others why you don’t want to be disturbed.

But as a leader, it’s good to set yourself as a role model for when you and your team need to get to work. It would be best if you implemented a standard time every day for focused work at your workplace.

Top three ways to improve work performance: It's good to learn about proper communication at work. It's a skill for professionals to practice.

Organizing your workspace

During focus periods, it’s necessary to put away your electronics when you need to get things done. There is no need to have your phone in front of you when notifications are constantly going off.

Also, establishing a “clean-desk” policy is a great idea as well. When it comes to working in an office (and for remote work), it is an essential tool for staying organized and reducing distractions.

Despite the difficulty in reducing distractions, it is possible to accomplish more in less time. With practice, you will waste less time on ineffective activities.

Tip # 2: Provide excellent training to your team

For your organization to perform at its best, training is crucial. Employees should perform tasks in their roles if they are adequately trained. 

Proper training can boost job performance by resulting in better quality work. Moreover, to retain current employees, they must receive adequate training.

According to one study, job training is a critical factor in employee retention. Without receiving proper training, what are the chances of employees staying on in the long term? 

If they leave, it’s a waste of money and time to invest in an employee’s career potential. Also, it’s more time and frustration for a hiring manager to find a better fit for the job.

Top three ways to improve work performance: New hire getting trained by an employee. Training is crucial to do well on the job.

How to implement proper training

If you are training new employees for your business, be sure to communicate clearly. They must know what is expected of them when they are on the job.

Regarding specifics of training, there are two types of training I have in mind that work best. They include the following:

One-on-One TrainingClassroom-Structure Training
Breakdown
New hires are often paired up with experienced employees during training.

After observing (shadowing), they practice doing the work alongside the novice.

Common for this training to occur during the first two weeks of a new hire’s employment.

Training may be provided within the first month of a new hire’s employment if necessary for a rigorous type of job.
Breakdown
For mid-size to large companies, classroom training is typical should they bring on multiple new hires.

If you can provide this type of training, it’s helpful if your new hires work in customer-service-oriented work.

Learning standard operating procedures (sops) and basic customer service is imperative for a new hire to succeed.

In a classroom setting, new hires can clarify their responsibilities or ask questions.
Common Practices For Job Training (courtesy of No More Time Killers For Business)

My professional role in new hire training

When I worked at JPMorgan a few years ago, most departments provided excellent training to new hires. Whether it was for contractors or employees of the company, it was well-structured and interactive to participate in the training classes.

Top three ways to improve work performance: A training class is taking place. Oftentimes, it's another way for workers to learn on the job skills.

The environment I worked in was production-driven (with some customer service thrown in).

When reviewing confidential information (i.e., personal and financial documents), my former employer made me aware of SOPs and showed me examples of using common sense.

I learned more about my role later on, which led me to become a training instructor in the department. It was a rewarding experience because I wanted new hires to do their best in their jobs.

Besides the tidbit about my background, it’s an example of how I helped improve performance at my job. I did the best I could to improve my work performance, along with everyone’s work performance.

It is important to give honest and critical feedback to an employee in a respectful manner. Giving vague input to them and leaving it at that is a disservice.

“Oh, you’re doing great. You’re meeting expectations- just keep it up.” That was the kind of feedback I received in previous jobs.

There were some suggestions for improvements, but not much else of what I could have done better.

It is important to give honest, critical feedback to an employee in a respectful manner. Providing feedback can be a fantastic opportunity for improvement. Also, it’s a great learning experience as well.

Eric T. Seil (Site Owner of notimekillers.com)
)

Tip # 3: Provide constructive feedback to your team

Although it’s not always easy, providing feedback to your employee is necessary for professional growth and development. Without input, there’s no opportunity for an individual to learn from their weaknesses.

If you feel that someone is valuable to your company, giving feedback should be a way to grow your business. If you believe someone dramatically contributes to the work you do, it’s worth spending time with them on their professional development.

How to give honest feedback

As mentioned earlier, giving honest feedback is not easy. But at the same time, you want to be open and honest about how your employees are performing.

Some general things to keep in mind includes not giving vague feedback. For example, you don’t want to say, “Oh, you’re doing great. You’re meeting expectations. Keep it up.”

Top three ways to improve work performance: It's necessary to give adequate feedback on job performance. It helps with professional development in the long haul.

That was the kind of feedback I received in previous jobs. For the most part, it was praise for me meeting expectations.

There were some suggestions for improvements, but not much else of what I could have done better.

On the same note, you don’t want to be overly critical or harsh in giving feedback. There is no reason to discourage someone from doing their best.

It is important to give honest and critical feedback to an employee in a respectful manner. Giving vague input to them and leaving it at that is a disservice.

Providing feedback can be a fantastic opportunity for improvement, along with being a learning experience.

Note: We may include products or services that will be helpful to our readers. This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please review the affiliate disclosure page.

When to provide feedback

Traditionally, most companies will do annual performance reviews around the end of the year. Although that may be the standard, there are better approaches to yearly reviews.

We should provide feedback throughout the year, as I wrote previously. One approach I gave in another post is holding “progress” meetings.

Progress meetings can be something done each month. It’s great to check in with an employee on how they’re doing. You can discuss any concerns they may have and anything that needs to be addressed immediately.

This approach has the advantage that small things can be worked on in the meantime. Consider having regular conversations about an employee’s performance throughout the year, rather than waiting until the end of the year.

A relevant article from notimekillers.com

Read next on “How Can I Improve My Work Performance? Top 17 Tips“, to learn about the best tips for boosting your work performance.

Final Words

Learning the best ways to improve work performance for your business is not complicated. Depending on what type of business you have, there are things you can start implementing immediately.

The three best ways outlined above are significant steps in the right direction. For your business to prosper over the long run, you need to take the necessary measures. Proper execution can result in exciting results and outcomes down the road.

Your Turn: Will you follow these steps for your business?

Your thoughts on these approaches would be appreciated. Have you followed any of the steps outlined earlier if you run a business or team? In your opinion, which one is the best and one you may implement?

Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. It will be my pleasure to read them and respond promptly.

Also, take a moment to bookmark this page so you can come back and visit at another time.

If you got value from this article, please bookmark this website to visit later for new posts every week.

Spread the word to others. Sharing is caring!

To get more of this type of content, you won't want to miss out my daily email letters. These are worth some golden nuggets and best tips to help you in your business. Sign up today!

Count me in on the daily letters via email!

For the latest videos that come out every week, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Also, be sure to check out our new space on 
Twitter X!

YouTube

Twitter (X)

Medium Profile
Eric is the owner and chief editor of notimekillers.com. 

He takes great pride in helping people manage their time and grow their businesses. 

Eric is a firm believer in financial and time freedom, as he believes in financial independence and taking ownership of your time. 

“Time is your most important asset. It can be your best friend or worst enemy. How you use your time can shape the future you desire to have.” 

In his leisure time, Eric loves to write and read whenever possible. He enjoys going for long walks outdoors while doing in-home workout videos every week. 

You can also connect with Eric via LinkedIn.

Self Photo 2019: Here's a picture at a building in downtown Chicago.

8 thoughts on “Top Three Ways To Improve Work Performance: My Best Tips”

  1. Hi Eric, thanks for this. I always appreciate insights on how to be a better person. I remember my former employer always insisted on employees acquiring new skills. Trainings were always in the budget. Sometimes it would get strenuous as you still had your job to do. Now I get the reasoning behind it. I also like the bit about feedback. It makes sure we are all in the same boat – objectives-wise.

    Reply
    • Hi Steve,

      No matter what career or profession you’re in, there’s always room for learning new skills. It is necessary to prepare for tomorrow’s workplace, and stay updated. In other words, we always should be working on making ourselves employable.

      Trailing is something I emphasized a lot. It helps new hires get the proper training they need. It helps to keep learning while on the job. Feedback helps along the way as well.

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts- very much appreciated!

      Reply
  2. Hello Eric,

    Good read here. As a professional union construction supervisor, I am always looking for ways to improve my abilities to lead my crews so we can complete very complicated tasks on time, under budget, meet the specifications, do it safely and efficiently. 

    I like the way you have broken this down into three simple steps. One of the first things I do when faced with a huge project is to look at the big picture, break it down into manageable pieces, and then present it to the crews. This helps remove distractions that they do not have to deal with, gives them a smaller chunk that if dealt out properly suits the training they already have, and we discuss the objectives in a way that helps them develop their own plan so they feel empowered and involved in it, giving them the inner desire to succeed. 

    I might say, you could even consider your closing “Final Words” as a step in itself. All of the training I have taken on this subject with all of the research I have done on my own does absolutely nothing unless you put it into action. One must follow through!

    Good job, keep up the good work!

    Chad

    Reply
    • Hi Chad,

      As you come from a management background, you know how important it is to lead crews effectively. It sounds like you’re on top of keeping your team on track. Especially if you work in construction, that’s very important to keep in mind.

      I see how breaking down tasks into smaller chunks is much better, and makes the work process much more efficient. So you’re on the right track with that.

      I’m glad to know that my “Final Words” is seen as a final step. I’m in total agreement with you that we need to put in the work, no matter what. 

      It’s all about taking action to get the best outcomes we want. We need to follow up and do what’s necessary to get where we want in business.

      Thank you for your thoughts- it’s very much appreciated!

      Reply
  3. Based on this article presented to me, it is very interesting concerning motivation and determination. Knowing when it comes to business, you still have to be organized and stabled, and maintain good attitude and manners. 

    It’s good to know that someone else can present you something and you can either accept or reject. But knowing good business people always take advice.

    Reply
    • Hi Ericka,

      Being organized is something we should do to stay on top of things. Also, having a good attitude helps a long way.

      Knowing when to accept or reject something is not always the easiest thing to do. But it’s always good to take advice regardless of the situation.

      That was great input- thank you for sharing. It’s much appreciated!

      Reply
  4. My husband starts a new job in a couple of weeks, where he will have his own office for the first time and a team under him. This will be all new for him because he only worked in carpentry before. 

    I plan to share this post with him as I think it can help him get a good start. 

    Although I have never been a team leader, I was in charge of the training of other morning stockers in my department. 

    It was one-on-one training and I agree with what you say about the importance of training them properly.

    I was also a cook in another job under the head cook. We only had one yearly review in all the time I worked at the school. 

    It was a disaster, IMO. She never once gave me any clue that she didn’t think my performance was up to par until the review where she said some very unkind things. 

    So, again, I agree with what you said about providing constructive criticism as you go along. Don’t stay silent or say things like “you’re doing great” just because it’s easier.

    Thanks so much for this informative article. I look forward to sharing these tips with my husband.

    Lynn  

    Reply
    • Hi Lynn,

      That’s good to know about your husband’s new opportunity. Regarding this topic, I think he’ll get a lot of value out of these tips moving forward.

      Yes, it’s very important to give feedback on a regular basis. Giving that feedback often can help us focus on our weaknesses. Whereas if it’s only once a year, we don’t get that much feedback as we should get. 

      I’m not a fan of “you’re doing great” because I think it should be something far more specific. That’s where the role of providing feedback comes in handy, and it can help out a lot.

      Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts- they’re very much appreciated.

      Reply

Leave a Comment