10 Ways to Professionally Tell Someone to Work Faster

How to Professionally Tell Someone to Work Faster

1. Set an example

As the business owner, you can set the pace for how you want your employees to work. It’s amazing what words of encouragement can do to the energy level in a room.

It’s the same reason why professional athletes like to play in stadiums packed with fans. The constant cheering just makes them more confident and perform better.

Besides sounding enthusiastic, you should also act energetically.

Walk with purpose.

Become the very embodiment of a “well-oiled machine.”

Most people in a team setting want to keep up with the group. They don’t want to be the person that drags the team down. It just doesn't feel good.

One of the best ways to tell someone to work faster is to use yourself as an example. Set the tone. Others will subconsciously follow suit.

2. Identify bottlenecks

Casually telling someone to work faster is like telling an angry person to calm down. It’s useless without an insightful conversation.

There are a few possible reasons why someone might be working slower than the others:

For example, a new worker might still be learning about the software the company uses. They are still trying to remember how to access specific files on their computer.

The initial learning curve is slowing them down.

Another reason why someone might be working slower than the others is that they want everything to be perfect. They double and triple-check everything.

It’s great to be detailed oriented. Accuracy helps the company avoid costly errors.

However, checking everything takes time. That time can be used to complete other assignments.

3. Propose solutions

You can think of ways to help new workers learn faster and get over the initial learning curve.

Are there any videos that they can watch?

Can they read something and use it as a reference as they complete a task?

New workers will naturally work faster as they become more familiar with company policies.

In general, you can make suggestions on how to maintain accuracy and save time:

For example, use the computer as much as possible when checking numeric values. Automate the process. Software applications can easily be used to check whether one number is the same as another.

You will increase productivity for the company overall by letting computers do the heavy lifting.

4. Meet with them one-on-one

Reprimanding slow employees in front of the other employees is the worst thing that you can do. Don’t do that. Don’t embarrass them.

Instead, meet them one-on-one in the conference room. Chat for a few minutes.

Treat the quick chat as an informal performance review. Nothing is written down. It’s just an unofficial progress report.

First, focus on the positives. For example, if you’re working with a perfectionist, tell them how you admire their efforts to maintain accuracy. Then, talk about the improvements that they can make.

5. Make it a game

You can gamify employee productivity. For example, set an average threshold that your employees must meet. Your faster workers will have no problem meeting this threshold.

Let’s see if your slower employees will change their work habits now that there is a game in place. They will feel motivated if the winner gets a prize, such as cash or a gift card.

6. Let them shadow other employees

Your faster employees can become mentors for your slower employees. You can learn a lot just by watching someone. Plus, shadowing opportunities can help workers become friends.

Friends who work together can naturally build on each other’s energy. They work faster because they want to outcompete one another.

In addition, work feels enjoyable when you’re laughing with co-workers and having a good time. It doesn’t feel like work. Instead, it feels like a fun activity that you want to get better at.

7. Let them monitor their performance by themselves

You don’t have to have a conversation every time one of your employees is working slow. You can let them monitor performance levels on their own.

Nowadays, everything can be tracked using technology. For example, computers can keep track of the number of sales a worker makes and the number of tasks they complete on average per hour.

Make this data available to workers. Let them analyze their performance over time. They can also compare their metrics to their co-workers’ metrics.

If possible, color-code the data and translate it into easy-to-read graphs. That way, workers can quickly see if one metric is significantly different than the others.

8. Break down big projects into smaller assignments

Employees sometimes feel intimidated when they need to complete a big project. Just thinking about it makes them feel stressed. It paralyzes them and makes them work slower as a result.

As the business owner, you can help by breaking down the big project into smaller chunks. Make the project feel less daunting.

Set due dates for these smaller assignments. Due dates alone can help employees work faster. People want to meet deadlines. No one wants to intentionally submit work past the deadline.

9. Give them assignments that they are good at

Some people are naturally more creative. They prefer qualitative projects over quantitative projects. Other people love working with numbers.

Therefore, you should delegate assignments based on people’s skillsets. If not, then people won’t be able to work as fast because they are not using their strengths.

As you get to know your employees, you can change their job titles when necessary. Move them around so that they end up doing work that is right for them.

10. Get rid of distractions

Distractions affect productivity. There’s no doubt about that. You need to think about how the working environment as a whole affects working speed.

For example, not everyone enjoys working in offices with an open floor plan. Without adequate soundproofing, the office can quickly get noisy.

Some workers may be having a casual lunch conversation. Someone else might be on the phone with a customer. The sounds of keyboards and printers also contribute to the cacophony.

As a result, employees who are sensitive to noise will work slower. They can’t concentrate with so much commotion.

Therefore, soundproof the office as much as possible. Install doors to shorten the distance noise can travel. Install carpets to dampen the sound of footsteps. Reassign seating arrangements. Let workers move around so that they can find the space in the office that allows them to work faster on average.