No matter the sector or part of your company: the search for productivity is unanimous among businesses. Many times, managers have already done everything possible to help employees deliver greater productivity and, consequently, improve the company's results , but even so, the objectives are not achieved. But why does this happen? Companies end up forgetting a very relevant factor for business productivity: internet access. Blocking websites on the internet can make all the difference for businesses that want to increase their productivity and deliver superior performance in the market.
Some management practices can even help employees increase their focus and carry out their tasks more intelligently, but it is not always possible to achieve the results expected by business managers. The internet, although essential, is a tool full of threats and traps that can destroy your business's productivity without you even realizing it.
Regardless of the activity carried out, it is very common for employees to end up distracted by resources and tools available in the digital environment and fail to deliver the productivity expected by their leaders. In this sense, we can mention social networks, e-commerce, personal emails, entertainment websites, and in the worst cases, pornography.
It is very important that managers have efficient solutions that help maintain more assertive control of everything that is carried out in the online environment while employees are at the company's disposal.
Productivity in the workplace
Thinking practically, it is very simple to establish the necessary productivity that the company needs to achieve, taking into account the expected demand and available resources . This is a very simple calculation to perform, but the reality is quite different. There are several formulas and methods that can be applied to obtain this information, see this content on the subject:
However, we need to remember that we are dealing with people on a daily basis. And these people present their characteristics, needs and difficulties, aspects that can directly impact their results during work.
Knowing how employee productivity is going, it becomes easier to determine which factors are impacting the company's productivity and preventing the expected results from being achieved.
The indiscriminate use of the internet, in addition to posing a great risk to the company's security in terms of information leakage , data confidentiality and device integrity, is also a major villain when it comes to productivity.
In a simplified way, productivity consists of the result obtained by equipment or an employee using all the resources available for this purpose. Within companies, productivity ends up being directly reflected in profitability, since the more productive the business, the better the results delivered. Blocking websites can deliver many advantages when business results are related to worker productivity.
Low productivity is a factor that can be observed very easily by managers. In addition to the low delivery made by employees, business results will be quickly impacted by lower performance . It is very important that managers have complete control over everything that happens within the company. To do this, it is important to pay attention to some aspects, such as:
Have complete knowledge of your entire team
Knowing how to identify your skills and competencies so that they can be applied in a more beneficial way, both for the business and for the employee . For example: an employee who has easier communication and is more extroverted may not deliver good results in sectors that require more isolated and concentrated work. It is important that these skills are taken into account when carrying out tasks and functions within the business.
Clear and achievable goals
Of course, every company wants to achieve substantial growth, but these established goals must be realistic and achievable so that they do not discourage the team and do not result in excessive demands.
Establish some criteria
If your objective is to determine whether your team is being productive or not, it is important to establish some analysis criteria in order to identify possible flaws and points for improvement.
Count on consolidated data
Performance reports will help managers determine how employees’ activities are progressing. Through them, it is possible to evaluate the performance of each employee and investigate the reasons behind the drop in productivity.
What could harm your company's results?
When noticing signs of low productivity among team members, it is important for managers to carry out a deep and assertive analysis of the reasons that could lead to this impact . Below are the main reasons that lead to a drop in productivity and impact your business results:
- Job dissatisfaction: it is natural that due to some factors, certain employees are dissatisfied with their work, which is one of the main reasons for the drop in productivity. It is essential that managers carry out an in-depth analysis of what may be leading to this dissatisfaction , and if the manager is able to efficiently determine these reasons, the easier it will be to establish processes within the business.
- Communication problems: to avoid problems in the workplace, it is important that communication occurs in a clear and objective manner . Most problems in the workplace could have been avoided if communication had been established more clearly between leading managers and teams . Good communication helps to avoid complex problems and contributes to greater business productivity.
- Structural problems: possible problems in the company's physical environment such as tables, chairs, devices, tools, among others, can generate dissatisfaction and, consequently, reduce the business's productivity .
- Distractions: in this regard we can mention everything that can hinder the employee while carrying out their tasks, such as holding unnecessary meetings, excessive contact via email and telephone, side conversations, constant interruptions... All of this can undermine the productivity of your business and directly impact your company’s results.
- Digital distractions: here we talk about the internet and its countless pitfalls. Access to social networks, personal email, visits to online stores, streaming platforms, among other content , can cause workers to stop carrying out their activity and become distracted by tasks that are not related to what is really important, which is to carry out the tasks for which he was hired.
Brazilian productivity is one of the worst in the world, since a worker in Brazil produces in one hour what a worker in the United States can produce in 15 minutes . This demonstrates that there are several factors that cause employees to stop carrying out their activities to the detriment of tasks not related to the company.
A company's team is assembled according to its needs . If a business has an X amount of tasks to be carried out, it hires a number of employees compatible with this demand. If these workers spend 20% of their time accessing content and tools that have no relation to their work, results will naturally decline.
Faced with this problem, what would be the smartest solution: hire a new employee or establish methods and solutions to help current employees achieve the productivity expected by the business?
Evidently, hiring new employees generates costs for the company and may not always deliver the expected results. Blocking websites on the internet helps prevent employees from accessing this type of content while they should be carrying out tasks determined by managers.
Having a blocking tool will help your company to have more assertive control over everything that is carried out in the digital environment during working hours , and prevent employees from stopping carrying out their activities to solve personal problems or being distracted by this type of content.
Another great advantage that this type of website blocking on the internet can provide is the protection of company data and devices. This is because, just like the internet is full of distractions, it is also full of traps and threats that can cause immense losses to the company. Digital security is a priority among businesses, mainly due to the risks that data leaks can pose to the organization.
5 tips to increase productivity by blocking websites
As we have seen, there are many contents and accesses that can impact the productivity of your business. To help you, we have separated the five types of blocks that need to be carried out to prevent your employees from suffering from low productivity and loss of focus during working hours:
Social media blocking
Social networks have become almost unanimous among Brazilians, being used by the majority of people. Although they are a very interesting tool for people and companies, social networks are a real black hole for productivity. How many times have you accessed a social network and spent much longer than you expected looking at the feed and random content? Locking this tool will help your employees stay focused on what is really important to the company.
Personal email blocking
In addition to being a major distraction for employees, personal email can be a gateway to various cyber threats . There are several scams that can be carried out via email, such as phishing. In this type of cyber attack, the cybercriminal creates a fake email to make the victim provide confidential information and/or download malicious applications.
Streaming platform blocking
Streaming platforms are being increasingly used and due to their ease of access, they can also be a major detriment to companies' productivity. It is very common that, during working hours, some employees access this type of platform to distract themselves and end up causing delays or failing to perform their tasks efficiently.
Blocking certain types of downloads
Many cyber attacks begin with the download of malicious applications or files, which may contain Trojans and may encourage the entry of cybercriminals, resulting in information leaks, device blocking, infected machines, financial scams, among others.
Blocking websites without security protocol
E-commerce was a solution that brought many facilities to our routine, as it is possible to make purchases anywhere and at any time. However, there are many cybercriminals who clone well-known e-commerce pages such as Casas Bahia, Americanas, Submarino, etc. , and through this type of website, they are able to collect personal data, financial data and other types of information. Furthermore, this type of website may also present banners or false advertising that, when opened, download malicious files onto your device.
Blocking pornographic and violent content
Even though it is an inconceivable stance, there are still many cases where employees use the company's internet to access pornography websites. It is important to block this type of content not only to ensure more productivity, but also to avoid any type of inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
Blocking websites and gaming platforms
Just like social networks and entertainment sites, online games end up causing immense distraction and causing employees to stop performing their tasks and lose focus on what is a priority for the business. Another problem that arises from this type of content is the risk to data security. Most websites of this type are full of traps that can encourage very dangerous and harmful cyber attacks.
Count on the help of the best tools on the market
Blocking websites manually can be a real challenge , especially when the company has several devices and employees working remotely. Furthermore, this type of blocking often fails to deliver the expected results and can be easily circumvented by users.
For this reason, it is important to have an efficient and intelligent tool that helps your company block inappropriate and dangerous content in a more assertive way. There are solutions on the market that can deliver an intuitive panel with all the features your business needs to block websites more efficiently , as is the case with tools such as pfSense , DNS Filter and Lumiun .
Through solutions like this, you can manage access to the work environment in a more complete way and bring more productivity to your organization.
Until later!
