Things you can do right now to boost business productivity.

• Acknowledge your leaders as leaders.  They already know it, step up to the plate and acknowledge it publicly.
• Ask the leaders for their ideas on making the group, department, or business better.  Remember they’re highly intelligent and perhaps smarter than you and I.  Implement the suggestions that you can.  You can start with the questions in chapter 4 but look for things like taking mundane tasks away from top people.
• You wouldn’t run a ball mill or other machine into the ground why run your people that way?  Who needs some time off, or a change of scenery?  Moving people around and diversifying their skill set is a great way to increase productivity.
• Find a project that is nearing completion and reward everyone who worked on it with a dinner out, or a long lunch paid for by the company.  Preferably on company time.  When you make it on their time you’re giving a gift that imposes on them.
• Fire a deadbeat.  So many managers have a problem getting of the mark and getting rid of a bad employee.  Just keep in mind if you know he’s a bad egg, so does the rest of the department.  You keeping him around just sends the message that no matter how much you shirk your job duties you’ll still get to keep your job.  When I’ve let people go in the past that I thought were just not the best I could find, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to have others on my staff tell me they’re glad the person is gone. 
• Once or twice a year throw all of the rules out for your top performers.  Take them out for a real fun day.  Not any of this the entire company goes to a movie and gets a free $4 ticket and a small soft drink.  Do something extraordinary.  Something that motivates those at the bottom to work harder (so they can go the next time) and is spectacular enough to make the top people forget any thought of leaving, or slowing down the pace.
• Boost someone’s training.  Every time I do this I get some kind of unexpected benefit.  Even if it’s not directly related to the job they’re doing now.
• Set a performance goal for the entire department.  Then offer a nice reward once the goal is attained.
• Tell your staff you want to begin to separate your department from the rest of the organization in terms of both talent and productivity.    Make it clear that you want to do this not only for your own career but for everyone else’s job satisfaction as well.
• Start telling the truth.  This sounds obvious but it’s not.  Many bigger companies let the BS roll downhill and you’re stuck spouting a line you know isn’t true.  Be honest with your people every day and build the trust great managers need.
• Every day for a week stop near quitting time and honestly evaluate your performance.  Then make a small note of anything you’ve done poorly and try and to it better the next day.  Anything you’ve done that garnered unexpected benefits make a not of as well and see if you can duplicate it in other situations. 
• Work on your employees careers, not everyone just the job and career of everyone on your staff.  The benefits will roll downhill and up.
• Business productivity includes everything. Evaluate current back office procedures. This isn't something you should do weekly as it will decrease productivity. But at least twice every year you need to take a long hard look at how the nuts and bolts of the back office are operating.
• Outsource back office functions where it makes sense. Things like payroll, quarterly tax filings, even accounts receivable can be outsourced and save you money. The person who was filling these tasks can be made more productive in other areas.
• Utilize business productivity software. Project management applications can not only increase efficiency and productivity, they can help you define weaknesses within your processes.

Increasing productivity in the small business really means increasing profits and the money you make. Don't be afraid of it,or ashamed of it. Often we get tied up in the day to day operations of the business, and we end up being satisfied just doing the job. That is good enough for the average employee, it's not good enough for the small business owner. If you don't fight constantly to increase your productivity, I can find someone who will, your competitors.