Top 10 Strategies for Increasing Productivity at Work

When teams have time for high-impact work, it can lead to growth and innovation. But too often, employees face repetitive tasks that zap their energy or lack the support or motivation to be truly productive.

Increasing productivity at your organization means having clear goals and the right tools and strategies in place. Supportive leadership also plays a role, as illustrated by Gallup and Workhuman research that shows a strong connection between strategic employee recognition and high productivity and performance.

Here are 10 practical ways to promote high-impact work, support your team, and reduce time spent on routine tasks.

10 essential strategies to increase productivity at work

You can’t expect your teams to be productive unless you create a culture that supports them. So, how do you do that? Here are 10 top tactics for increasing productivity at your organization.

1. Streamline communication channels

Sometimes the simplest fixes make the biggest difference. This applies to your communication channels. Instead of relying on email as your sole source of communication, lean on a comprehensive work operating system like Slack. Ditch slow and clunky email for real-time messaging tools that provide quick updates and instant feedback. This simple fix can speed up decision-making and keep conversations flowing.

Practice regular Slack channel maintenance for further optimization. Archive old threads and clean up your sidebar to reduce distractions and organize your workspace. Limiting email use and embracing real-time messaging for day-to-day communication will create a more focused, efficient environment.

2. Automate routine tasks

Automating lower-value, repetitive tasks can make a huge difference and free up time for more important work. Slack’s Workflow Builder tool makes it easy for teams to streamline everyday workflows and take the effort out of routine work.

Connect tools like Google Analytics and Tableau directly to Slack to track productivity metrics and get updates and insights sent straight to team channels. Automating these notifications gives everyone access to real-time data without manual effort.

Whether setting up a new workflow or third-party integration in Slack, simple automation makes everything from scheduling meetings to pulling data to summarizing conversations simpler. Use automation tools to reclaim your time and focus on the work that really matters.

3. Remove low-value tasks with AI

Low-value tasks—otherwise known as busy work—contribute little, if anything, to the bottom line. And as Slack’s research has discovered, employees spend a shocking amount of time laboring on this kind of work—as much as 41% of their time is spent on tasks that are “low value, repetitive, or lack meaningful contributions to their core job functions.”

This is where AI can play a significant role in maximizing productivity. For example, think about how much time it takes to manually transcribe meeting notes. Slack’s AI functionality can automate note-taking in huddles, freeing workers to move on to more important tasks after a meeting.

AI can also help workers find important documents faster, get caught up on the day’s developments, and quickly understand the gist of crucial business conversations. In aggregate, these quality-of-life improvements can reduce noise so employees can focus on what matters most.

4. Use shared channels for cross-team collaboration

Shared Slack channels optimize collaboration by breaking down silos and enhancing visibility—both internally and with external partners. Keeping track of lengthy or disjointed email threads can be a huge waste of time. But with Slack Connect, you and your partners can collaborate in real time, in a single, secure place. This helps reduce context switching so you can stay on track and stay focused.

Shared channels can help cut down on weekly meetings and ensure that only essential participants attend. For necessary meetings, create a clear, focused agenda, establish time limits, and wrap up as soon as you meet your goals. With everything centralized in shared channels—discussions, files, documents, and more—it’s easier to manage projects and keep everyone on the same page.

5. Consolidate tools with Slack integrations

Context switching can seriously hamper work and productivity. Studies show that even brief interruptions lead to significant delays and increase the number of errors. In some cases, workers completely lose track of their primary tasks when disrupted. That’s why working on a single platform—instead of disjointed platforms or tabs—can help teams maintain momentum. Slack’s comprehensive work OS integrates seamlessly with thousands of popular apps to help you stay focused on high-impact tasks that boost business efficiency.

With crucial tools in one place, you create a streamlined workspace with fewer interruptions. Teams can integrate AI assistants to automate tasks, generate insights, summarize conversations, and set notifications to stay on top of their workload. And productivity apps such as Todoist, Dropbox, Evernote, and Asana all have Slack integrations to give your team a boost.

6. Establish clear guidelines for Slack usage

Best practices and clear expectations help your team reduce distractions, avoid fragmented conversations, and create an effective, collaborative workspace. Prevent message overload and constant distractions by establishing clear Slack usage guidelines. With rules in place, Slack can be a powerful tool for knowledge sharing and collaborative work—with minimal workflow disruption.

To minimize distractions, follow these Slack usage guidelines:

• Consolidate messages. Combine greetings and message content in one message to avoid multiple notifications. Use public channels instead of direct messages (DMs) for information that benefits the whole team.
• Optimize formatting. Emoji, bulleted lists, or bold text can highlight critical points and make messages easier to scan.
• Use threads. Discussion threads help keep the main channel clear and free from irrelevant notifications. When a decision or update benefits everyone, use the “Also send to #channel” option.
• Manage notifications. Use the Do Not Disturb feature to limit pings during off-hours and create focused work periods. Set clear expectations for response times, especially in channels with global teams.
• Encourage public collaboration. For team-wide communication, default to public channels and reserve DMs for private or sensitive topics. This will help ensure that valuable insights and information are visible and accessible to everyone.

7. Customize notifications to avoid distractions

Customizing your Slack notifications can help you minimize distractions. With so many potential interruptions—from unnecessary meetings and social media chatter to off-topic messages from coworkers—tailoring your alerts ensures you only see what matters.

Follow these tips to maintain focus and avoid time-wasting activities:

• Limit unnecessary meetings: Before scheduling a meeting, consider whether you could accomplish what you need with a simple DM or quick huddle.
• Use real-time tools: For fast answers, don’t wait around for an email response. Use Slack to connect in channels for group communication, Slack Connect for external partners, or directly chat with an individual.
• Avoid social chatter: While you should always strive to develop friendly rapport with colleagues, there’s a time and place for personal conversations—this also applies to social media use. Catch up with coworkers at lunches or virtual happy hours, or create topical Slack channels where those with varied interests can connect.
• Improve organization: Organize your digital workspace and stop wasting time looking for what you need. Use Slack to summarize conversations, share files directly in a project channel, pin important docs for faster access, and launch meetings all in one place.
• Set alerts: Adjust notification settings for your channels or direct messages so you only get notified when directly @-mentioned or when someone posts in one of your preferred channels. For high-volume channels that aren’t critical, consider muting notifications during focus time to keep your attention on priority tasks.
• Schedule focus time: Block off time on your calendar and set your Slack status to “Busy” or “Focus time” so others know not to bother you. Slack’s Do Not Disturb feature can also help you block out periods to get work done without interruptions. Set up keyword alerts to ensure you only receive urgent updates, like project deadlines or client communication.

8. Encourage time-blocked work sessions

Make time-blocked work sessions that facilitate deep work a best practice so teams can get more done without distraction. Not only can time-blocking boost concentration, but it also can minimize the time it takes to refocus after multitasking. Studies have found it takes significant time to regain focus after an interruption—up to 25 minutes in some cases—meaning even brief distractions can cost you valuable time. By making time for uninterrupted work, you minimize distractions and empower your team to focus on work that matters.

Slack has experimented with innovative ways to reduce meeting overload and reclaim focus time. Programs like Focus Fridays, where internal meetings are canceled and notifications are muted, and Maker Weeks, which carve out an entire week twice a quarter for uninterrupted work, have seen great results—with 84% of Slack employees saying they benefited from these initiatives. By shifting away from the constant cycle of one-on-ones, daily check-ins, and ambiguous brainstorm sessions that clog calendars, the Slack team has been able to dedicate large chunks of time to meaningful work.

9. Turn Slack into your company knowledge base

Fun fact: Did you know that Slack actually stands for “Searchable Log of All Communication and Knowledge”?

Because Slack is already set up to be a company’s knowledge base—or a place where anyone at your organization can go to get quick answers and access crucial resources—all teams have to do is align on ways to share and search for knowledge so it’s organized and accessible.

Here’s how to search in Slack:

Pinned messages, shared documents, and integrated internal wikis are features that help teams capture and organize key information. A well-organized knowledge base gives your team instant access to client information, company best practices, and training materials. And creating a culture of knowledge sharing not only saves everyone time, but it also ensures valuable insights are never lost.

10. Run more efficient meetings

Meeting efficiency gets derailed when you don’t clearly define goals, people don’t contribute, or you ignore time limits. This is why creating agendas beforehand is critical. They keep everyone on track, provide explicit points to cover, and outline goals to accomplish during the session.

Scheduling regular in-person or video meetings to discuss workloads, goals, and challenges or strategize for the future is a key part of productivity. When everyone understands what they’re doing and how to do it, they can hit the ground running after the meeting ends. To make the most of everyone’s time, team meetings should focus on problem-solving for urgent matters, as well as collaboration, accountability, and action items.

Increase your team productivity with Slack

When you set up your teams for success with the right tools and strategies, you’ll see better results. Not only is it important to uncover what motivates teams and individuals, but it’s also just as critical to consistently provide them with the support they need to do their best work. From automation and AI agents to time-blocking and integrating productivity tools into daily workflows, you can support your team so they can become more productive.

Learn more about how Slack’s collaboration tools can boost your performance.