How the workplace can improve or hinder your concentration

Concentration at the workplace refers to your employees’ ability to stay focused on a task or goal, and consequently, increase productivity and optimize time management.

When the workplace interrupts our concentration, anything can drain our energy and make work irritating, as well as the simple idea of having to wake up and go to work.

If your workplace is noisy, with a bad vibe and dissatisfied employees, we have news for you: maintaining a high level of team productivity will be close to impossible. 

But don’t worry. There is a solution!

In this article, you’ll learn how the workplace can improve or worsen your concentration and what companies can do to create a productive and happy space for its employees!

What is a bad working environment?

Before putting solutions in place to improve the workplace and increase concentration, it’s important that you understand what defines a bad workplace. There are certainly situations that can bother one person more than others, for example.

As in any other place, the workplace is full of people with different characteristics, opinions and experiences. But, in a bad work environment, this can result in a difficult coexistence, in a tense and unfocused environment.

Many times, the company’s own organizational culture doesn’t contribute positively to a more productive and pleasant environment.

To help you identify a bad workplace, keep an eye on the following points:

• Excessive noise: It’s practically impossible to concentrate in a noisy environment. Side discussions, loud music, outside noise, etc., are examples of situations that hinder employee concentration.
• Unhealthy competition: Employees are part of the same team, with the common goal of making the company prosper. But, excessive competition creates bad situations among them, affecting their concentration and productivity.
• Gossiping: Another type of situation that affects employees is gossiping, which certainly brings no benefits to the workplace.
• Lack of organization: If concentrating in a chaotic environment is almost impossible. If the company has boxes scattered everywhere, objects piled up and stored haphazardly, employees will surely be affected.
• Team with no set priorities: Everyone needs priorities in order to know where and how to concentrate their efforts.
• Other types of distractions: We’re living in an increasingly connected world, which makes it hard for people to stay focused. Constantly checking your social media on your phone for 5 minutes is one of the ways to disrupt productivity.

How to improve concentration at the workplace

What would become of any company without the people who are part of it? Few businesses can survive without worrying about their employees and neglecting them is a sure sign they will fail.

Most companies, especially the most innovative ones, have realized how the workplace influences employee concentration and performance. 

After all, we spend most of the day at work, and if we don’t feel comfortable and happy, we’re unlikely to have a satisfactory performance, right?

Yes, employees are expected to keep the workplace peaceful and deliver the best results as possible. But, the responsibility for providing a workplace that ensures employee concentration and satisfaction belongs to the company.

In addition to helping concentration, working in a pleasant environment helps productivity and reduces turnover in the company. 

Check out below what can be done to improve your team’s concentration and productivity!

1. First of all: Communication

Good communication is crucial for productive working relations. 

If employees know when and where to talk to each other and with their managers and coordinators, it will be easier for them to focus on what really matters.

The key to good communication at work is to be clear and direct. In problems occur, don’t avoid them and pretend they don’t exist; employees can feel when something is wrong.

2. Set clear goals

It might sound obvious, but people without goals focus on several things at the same time and cannot stay focused.

All employees must have specified goals, with delivery dates and times (as long as they are realistic), respecting the time each person needs to deliver their work with quality. 

If the company is in a hurry, the best option is to distribute these goals to a team. This way, the workload is divided fairly and everyone can be completely focused.

3. Implement the practice of feedback

As a complement to the previous tip, creating a culture of feedback will bring even more benefits to the company. 

For example, if the person responsible for the area notices that employees aren’t concentrating on their work, talking to them collectively and individually is a valid strategy in order to help them improve this aspect.

In addition, the entire team must view this practice as something natural. Immediate feedback, both negative as well as positive, is crucial in order to improve productivity and concentration.

4. Consistency is key

There are several new corporate cultural trends, such as flexible hours, open workspaces, home offices, allowing pets in the workplace, etc. The list is endless and all of them are advantageous for the workplace.

But this shouldn’t be considered the rule. The workplace requires consistency in order to help employees concentrate. 

The team itself defines what consistency is. Although changes might be healthy, interruptions and abrupt changes can be harmful and affect the company’s balance.

5. Work on employee confidence

An anxious mind without confidence cannot concentrate on anything. Confidence in one’s work means greater independence for employees to decide how to carry out a certain activity.

Excessive demands and interruptions will only get in the way instead of helping.

Imagine a coworker that keeps sending emails asking about every detail in an ongoing project. You’ll feel that you’re being watched and that your coworkers don’t trust you.

6. Create a workplace rest area

Thinking about spaces to make the atmosphere more relaxed is important to counter a negative environment in your organization. Plus, it provides employees with a space where they can take a break and rest during tense moments.

This space can be more informal and relaxed, with sofas, beanbags, games and activities, or a meditation room. This way, those who wish to leave their workstation to rest a bit, and then come back feeling more energized, will have a space to do so!

7. Keep your office clean and uncluttered

Nothing is more frustrating than arriving at work and finding everything is disorganized, with dirty dishes cluttering the sink, paper scattered everywhere and dirty floors.

Keeping your workplace clean and organized is critical so everyone can focus on their work and not on the mess.

Bonus: Tools to help your team stay focused at work

As you can see above, there are several tips that can be put into practice to improve the workplace and ensure that everyone is focusing on what really matters.

Without a calm environment that doesn’t prioritize what really matters, everyone’s concentration will no longer exist. The result is that your team will be unfocused and unprepared to deliver things by any means.

In addition to the above tips, we’ve listed tools that can help you stay focused on your work!

Write all of them down that present these options to your employees.

1. Trello

Trello is one of the most used project management applications. On a single screen, the team will know which tasks need to be done. 

The tool is separated into boards containing cards, and each one receives an activity.

The card allows you to enter delivery deadlines, team members, labels (to determine urgency, for example), a checklist, and add attachments. It’s also possible to add comments and descriptions of what needs to be done.

Thus, you avoid filling up your team’s inbox with emails about the tasks and goals.

2. RescueTime

Social media is one of the biggest problems for concentration. Checking it every few minutes is enough to make you lose focus.

RescueTime is a tool that helps you monitor time wasted with distractions on the computer and presents reports with data on minutes spent on each website.

The tool can be used individually by employees, to help them understand what hinders their concentration and to minimize the time spent on distractions.

3. The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is used for productivity and individual concentration, but it’s quite useful as a teaching tool for employees.

This might be the tool you need to help your employees focus on work!

This is how it works: On a sheet of paper or notepad, write down all the tasks that need to be carried out during the day, divide the workload, and work for 20 or 30 minutes (Pomodori). Then, take a 5-minute break, go back to work for another 20 or 30 minutes, and take a longer 15-minute break after 4 Pomodori.

Thus, you can completely focus on a task and then rest. It might sound like something can hinder concentration, but believe me; this method has been proven to increase productivity!

In this article, we have presented tips and tools that companies can implement to ensure that employees have a workplace conducive to concentration.

But remember that employees are also responsible for making efforts to focus on their work. 

Since it isn’t the easiest task in the world, how about providing them with techniques on how to avoid rework and productivity loss?