No matter how great your team is right now, you can still do something to further increase everyone’s productivity without sacrificing their health and sanity. There is no exact science on how you can do this. However, if you know your team and its dynamics well, you can do something to further boost their productivity with ease. The following are just some tips on how to improve team productivity:
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Set goals with the team.
Every team is unique so you have to set goals that will work towards everyone’s interests and vision. Set both long-term goals and short-term goals. Long-term goals are usually those that you want your team to accomplish within at least six months to a year. While some may go as far into the future as five or ten years, this is not recommended as you can always review the goals after a few months and revise them accordingly.
As for short-term goals, you may set daily, weekly, and monthly goals. While you’re formulating these targets with your team, make sure to explain in detail how these short-term goals translate within the long-term goals you created with them. Also, speak with them about how these goals will affect them and the company as a whole. Discussing these goals will help everyone appropriately align their motivation to be productive.
Be a good example.
Self-discipline is a good way to go. You don’t have to be the perfect leader – you just have to do what is expected of you. When your team sees you persevering, this causes a ripple effect. Little by little, they will start imitating your example, consciously or otherwise. The result of perseverance is increased productivity within the group.
Understand the process of creating team expectations.
If possible, you may also teach them how it’s done. To teach them the process, you need to have prior mastery of the skills that you want to impart to your team. Create visual aids and other similar teaching materials to make it easier for you to show them the ropes.
Schedule a meeting appropriately as a sign of respect for their time. If the training can’t be completed in a couple of hours, consider dividing the concepts into smaller parts and teach them in a series-like format.
During and after discussions, encourage them to ask questions. Be open to clarifications and allow them to discuss with you and each other what they think of the process and if they think more suggestions are in order.
Give them free rein to be creative.
They will appreciate the gesture. If possible, allow them the freedom to have flexible work schedules. This is important because no two people have the same “productive time slot”. By allowing them to work during their most productive times, you allow them the chance to make the most out of their creativity by permitting them to be “in their zone” every time they work with the team.
At some point during the workday, they will need a break and that’s okay. Allow them time to regroup, and they will surely feel refreshed and may even return with new ideas that they can share with the group. However, sometimes, patience is key. Creative ideas cannot be forced, so, it may take some time before they have one or two good breakthroughs.
When they do have suggestions, make sure to listen to them without judgment. Never judge suggestions or ideas even if you think the idea is not good at the time. Take note of the idea. You never know when this might come in handy.
Provide everyone with feedback.
Initially, you may give individual feedback in private, then as a group. You may even ask them to give you feedback on how you fare as their leader so far. If you’re planning to do this, assure them beforehand that anything they tell you will not affect how you see them as a team member and as a person. If possible, you may even survey anonymous respondents so they will feel more comfortable sharing their insights. The important key here is to discuss the type of feedback system that works best for everyone.
Conduct motivational sessions before crunch time.
It can be somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes. You may also treat this as a short session to check on each member to assess how they are doing as a group. For sessions like this one, you may share a quotation or an anecdote and relate this to the current situation that the team is facing. You may also encourage them to share their experiences and relate to them. Discourage team members from judging each experience and provide a supportive environment for everyone.
Despite any setbacks, you should place team member welfare above everything else. Make sure that in the process of doing your part in the project, you will not get so caught up in the job that you eventually forget to see your team members as people from different walks of life. Career growth is important, but, always remember to care for team members. You will surely not regret this.