How to Increase Productivity Amongst Engineers
Posted July 15th, 2014
Engineering is a field that is entirely dependent on producing results. If specific targets and metrics are not met within strictly specified deadlines, the fate of the entire project is compromised. That is why it’s so important to take steps to encourage and increase productivity amongst your team of engineers. It’s not enough to simply tell people to work harder, though. You need to take a proactive approach if you want to increase productivity in a meaningful way. Here are a few proven strategies:
Create Economic Incentives
Making money is ultimately why all of us go to work. If you want your engineers to produce more, creating an economic incentive to do so is a powerful motivator. Designing a bonus structure or a rewards-based system of pay raises ties compensation to productivity in a way that is clear to everyone. It’s up to the management team to determine a level of payout that will not jeopardize the economic viability of the project.
Provide Meaningful Feedback
There is the old adage “don’t work harder, work smarter.” Sometimes all your engineers need to be more productive is some constructive feedback. If you can guide their efforts in a way that reduces redundancy and inefficiency while focusing their efforts on the most crucial short and long-term goals, you can get more without asking for more.
Offer Adequate Training
If you are asking your engineers to work with unfamiliar technologies or processes, they may be less productive simply because of inexperience. Making sure that everyone on your team has the proper training to use the tools at hand increases output while cutting down on the frustration that can cause engineers to burnt out.
Build a Smarter Team
Productivity can decline simply because your team of engineers is not properly structured. It could be too large, too small, or missing a key contributor. By reconfiguring the human capital you already have, or making strategic additions, you can see immediate an boost in results.
Make Leadership Accountable
If your engineers are not producing as much as they are capable of, resist the urge to place all the blame on them. Upper-level management has to take responsibility too. If you don’t examine the real causes of the problem, finding a solution is impossible. Plus, if engineers feel like they are being punished instead of the true offenders, it breeds discontent, leads to employee turnover, and encourages sloppy work.
Engineering is a specialized field, but in the end engineers have the same needs as any other kind of employee. If you want to get more out of them, they need to feel respected, heard, compensated, and motivated. If you make a concerted effort to push your engineers within realistic limits and with individual needs in mind, you can get more from your team than you realize. Partner with the experts at Bayside Solutions to find more resources for effective management and team building.
