How to Handle Productivity Issues in Startup Tech Companies

Learning to deal with productivity issues is essential if you want your company to succeed.

No matter how good your team is, eventually you may find yourself dealing with a productivity issue—your team won’t be completing objectives or making progress in the timeframe you’d like.

There are many possible reasons for this—it could be that your process is inefficient, that you’re understaffed, that you’re setting unrealistic goals, or that your team isn’t motivated. But if you want to make progress, you’ll need to identify the root cause properly, and work to make improvements.

Use Objective Measurements

First, you’ll need a way to make objective measurements. It’s one thing to feel like “something’s off,” and another to see that you’re spending hundreds of hours on projects that aren’t seeing results. Start by using time tracking software, a project management platform, and other objective measurement tools to quantify those metrics, and see where you’re mismanaging time.

Find Solutions, Not Just Problems

It’s tempting to identify problems in your productivity lineup. For example, you might see that one of your employees is spending too much time on email, and not enough actually accomplishing things. Instead of just berating the employee for having a problem, come to them with a solution in mind—like email blackout periods that help them focus more on the task at hand. This makes the experience more positive and future-focused.

Work One on One

Each individual on your team will have a different set of strengths and weaknesses. It’s your job to identify those strengths and weaknesses, and come up with a personal improvement plan they can use to compensate for them.

Rebalance Workloads According to Strengths and Weaknesses

Speaking of compensating for strengths and weaknesses, you’ll also want to take a look at your team overall and judge whether you can rebalance your workload distributions in a way that’s more favorable to your company.

These tips should put you on the right path to improving your productivity issues, but if you find yourself in need of more assistance, you can always contact me for a free consultation. I’ve helped dozens of startups find their way, from the earliest stages of development.

About the Author

Jose Vasquez is a serial entrepreneur and tech specialist dedicated to helping startup tech companies grow and succeed. As the founder of Build. Brand. Blast., Jose has worked with dozens of enterprises to find direction, gain momentum, and achieve results.