Five Methods to Improve Team Productivity

If you want your organization to be efficient, you must increase productivity. However, this is often easier said than done, as plenty of obstacles, communication challenges, and resource allocation issues can stymie even the most well-thought-out plans. Let’s look at how you can improve productivity for your business by considering these common issues.

Why Team Productivity Can Impact the Workplace

Your team’s productivity will directly impact how your company works toward a common goal. If you can optimize productivity, you can ultimately achieve better results, profits, and employee satisfaction. Once you establish the importance of this fact, you can start to take deliberate action to work toward it.

Challenges to Team Productivity

Here are some of the major factors that can influence team productivity:

• Poor communication - When team members aren't clear about their roles or tasks, productivity suffers.
• Lack of clear goals - Without a shared vision, team efforts can become disjointed.
• Inadequate resources - Ensuring your team has the necessary tools and support is vital for high productivity.

Set and Work Toward Clear, Measurable Goals

Without clear and measurable goals, your organization might struggle to unify and work toward the same ends. If you offer goals, your team can follow them like a roadmap toward the objective.

Your goals should be SMART, an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Use this framework to ensure that all goals you implement are realistic and possible within the scope of your project.

Leadership Can Promote Productivity

If you want to maximize your team's efforts, give them an effective leader. They will have an immense impact on motivation and morale. A leader must be able to offer constructive criticism and build a work environment that is conducive to productivity. If the leader wants their team to be productive, they must lead by example and set a strong standard.

Track Your Team’s Productivity

Goals mean nothing without tracking progress toward them. There are various methods you can choose, but we recommend the following:

1. Time tracking - Measuring the time spent on tasks using productivity tools.
2. Output-based tracking - Focusing on the results achieved rather than the time spent.

If you’re unsure which best suits your needs, feel free to reach out to us for more recommendations.

Implement Project Management Tools

Project management tools can streamline workflows and allow for increased communication, facilitating productivity. Your team can leverage these digital workspaces to great effect, working together while sharing information in real-time.

Promote a Great Workplace Environment

A great work environment can go a long way to create the motivation to sustain long-term success. It also creates an environment free of negative kinds of stress. You can encourage this type of work environment by promoting open communication. While your employees don’t always need to get along, they should at least respect each other’s professional experience and be cordial enough to work together.

Let Us Help Your Team’s Productivity

Directive can help your organization maximize team productivity. To learn more, call us at 607.433.2200.