Every business is going to have to deal with downtime to one degree or another. No business runs efficiently in every single aspect. However, if your downtime problems begin to build up, it can manifest in real costs to your business, making it harder to get the profit that you require to grow. Here, we’re going to look at some of the most frequent sources of downtime, and what you need to do to ensure they don’t plague your business for too long.

Distractions looming large

First of all, let’s address the reality that downtime can be caused by humans who are not being as productive as they should be. You can get angry about it and punish those who let distractions get in the way of their work, or you can take a more productive approach and make it more difficult for them to get distracted in the first place. These distractions might be due to a lack of privacy in the workplace making it difficult for them to focus, so offering them a more private work space might help. Or it may be that they spend too much time on sites that suck up their time, which can be helped with tools like a website blocker.

IT issues are hard to get away from

If you rely on computers and an IT setup to do your work, then any issues that affect them are naturally going to cause downtime, as well. This can include systems running slowly, creating frustration and delays, but it can also include system-wide failures and crashes. Whichever is most common, working with IT support can help you get back up and running again before too long. You can also identify those problem issues and find the fixes or replacements that are most worth your money.

Inefficiencies and miscommunications

If your team doesn’t have the information, resources, or tools they need to get their work done efficiently, then it should be no surprise that they’re not going to be as productive as they could be. First of all, take steps to streamline their work so that they can complete it more easily. But also look at whether or not you have the right communication tools to make it easy for them to access information and ask questions whenever they need them.

Inflexibility will let you down

Flexibility isn’t just a perk for your employee, it’s your way to work around the many interruptions and downtime sources that can pop up. By allowing employees to work on their own devices or to work remotely, downtime that happens within the office might not be as much of a factor to worry about. Of course, you then have to worry about managing that flexibility to ensure that employees are still meeting your standards and not introducing any new problems, but it can be a real solution.

You cannot eliminate downtime from your business completely. However, with the tips above, you can greatly reduce the influence it has on your team and your goals.