Making - and keeping - employees productive. It's the key for much of training and HR and Yuri Martsinovsky has some good advice for you.

“When it comes to online productivity, we have so much access to so many platforms, that we’re easily pulled away with just the slightest notification,” explains Mike Vardy, founder of Productivityist, a consulting firm that helps individuals and businesses foster more effective work environments.  

“The problem is that we work reactively rather than productively. Distractions pull us away because we have an urgency addiction.”

How can companies combat this urgency addiction?  

Monitoring as one method

Keeping a close watch on employee behaviours during the workday is one option. In offices and workplaces with full-time employees using company-owned PCs, the management can simply install monitoring software, which can covertly capture employee behaviours on company-owned devices during the workday.

Employees may be aware that they are being monitored – and adjust their distractions appropriately.  And for employees who are not aware they are being monitored, the management can glean insights and take the appropriate action.

In other workplaces, with remote consultants or BYOD policies, employee monitoring is a bit harder to achieve, since so many workers use their own devices. However, with SaaS-based platforms like SharePoint, Google Apps for Business, Dropbox, and others, management can at any moment see who has logged in, viewed or edited a document, started a discussion, and other activities. This counts as monitoring, too – though a bit 'softer.'

So managing distractions and encouraging higher productivity is more than simply an issue of monitoring. It’s also an issue of getting employees excited about their work. The key is that employees who feel happier and rewarded will be more productive.

TAKEAWAY: Consider a monitoring solution, but incorporate additional strategies to encourage and motivate employees.

Put another way, companies can create a culture where there is an urgency addiction for the right tasks and responsibilities.

How can companies foster greater productivity – in fact, even encourage employees to want to demonstrate to management that they are doing a good job?

Giving employees more control

Self-management is important – giving employees the capability to plan their day by the day before. This gives employees more structure, so that when they start work the next day, they have created somewhat of a plan of attack, no matter how large or small. This gives employees a goal and a sense of wanting to achieve that goal.

Willpower and habits also play a role. Some people are morning people who knock out a bunch of tasks in the morning – and then fall off for the rest of the day. Night owls are the opposite. Employees need to have an awareness of their own strengths and when and how they’re working most optimally. Bosses need to be cognisant of their employees’ habits – so that night owls can at least make some progress in the morning.

Recharging the batteries is also important for productivity and also for fostering creativity.

“Its no secret people have great ideas when they’re out for a jog or in the shower,” adds Mike Vardy.  “Disconnecting is also good for productivity.  Breaks are key.”

TAKEAWAY: Empower employees to plan and achieve milestones – no matter how small.

It’s not all about Facebook

Distractions are not simply external. Companies are convinced that employees are less productive because they are distracted by attention-grabbers like social networks, shopping sites, or games. Organisations should also consider the fact that they themselves produce their own set of internal distractions, which might very well reduce productivity.

Internal communications are a perfect example of potential unnecessary distractions. Chat rooms or discussion channels in which particular employees’ feedback isn’t mission-critical can serve as a distraction, especially when there are notifications that cannot be turned off.

TAKEAWAY: Manager the stream of internal distractions so your employees can be even more efficient.

There are indeed several ways to combat the urgency addiction and boost productivity in every organisation. A combination of tactics works best and should be adjusted given the particular situation.

Yuri Martsinovsky is the founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Deep Software, a company that develops security applications for both consumer and B2B markets. For further information, please visit the website on Twitter @SoftActivity