Productivity articles are quite the trend nowadays. At times, reading about productivity seems to be more enjoyable than actually being productive!
We are being provided with statistics showing us different conclusions about productivity:
- Other nations are far more productive than the U.S.
- The U.S. is quite high on the productivity scale
- Technology is increasing productivity; Technology is decreasing productivity
- A shorter work week may be the key to increasing productivity
- Here are the best hacks for productivity
- Are you getting tired of hearing the word ‘productivity’?
So what exactly are some tips or hacks that may be helpful in improving your teams’ productivity?
1. The curse of Information Overload…
The job requires research. Team members are:
– watching webinars,
– reading articles on LinkedIn and
– filling their Amazon cart with all the books written by all the experts.
Sure, the research helps the employees develop their skills. It educates them on how to approach a task. But this can lead to information overload. How many webinars, articles, books can they consume? Do they need to consume every item from a listicle that you came across on your favorite blog?
This time could be utilized to the team tackling a project and learning from their mistakes. Implementing A/B tests to weigh their options to solve an issue, is perhaps a better alternative to reading about solving the issue.
Let your team learn from the masters, but also let them learn from their own experiences.
2. Organize your meetings!
Have you ever been in a long and tiring meeting and felt like shouting, “Can we please get back to the matter at hand?”
Too often meetings are not organized well and are not planned in advance. As a result, they drag on and much time is being spent on the meeting, yet the salient points only take 15-20 minutes.
Approach a meeting as if you were an event planner. Create an itinerary with an estimated start/finish time. Providing refreshments may not hurt, if appropriate.
Ensure that the “hosts” and “attendees” of the meeting prepare their points of discussion in advance. Outline what each party/individual has to discuss and the order (for the itinerary). This ensures that your team does not leave anything out and that the meeting serves its purpose.
You do not want to schedule another meeting—covering what you missed out on at the first meeting!
3. Motivate! Motivate! Motivate!
Depending on where you work, you may be overlooking this factor.
It is a no-brainer that productivity is low due to a lack of motivation. As the team leader set your goals for your team and then inspire and educate them on how to achieve them.
Engage with your team:
– See what their interests/skills are and see if you can help them use them at work.
– Give them chances to lead and not simply follow orders.
– Reward them. A simple encouragement goes a long way.
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