Team Productivity Hacks That’ll Boost Your Output 2X
The difference between team productivity levels is sometimes difficult to believe. Why is it that some teams can generate millions of dollars in value while others make losses?
Partly, it has to do with team dynamics and other circumstances outside of their control. But, on many occasions, it just comes back to good old-fashioned productivity. Some groups of workers are better at getting jobs done than others.
Ultimately, efficiency is all about getting the most output for the least amount of input. Say, for instance, that your company makes yogurt. If you use ten workers and two factories to make a million pots, you are more efficient than a company that needs twenty workers and three factories for the same output. Here are some of the productivity hacks that you can use to boost team performance by 2X. Check them out below.
Give Feedback, But Don’t Make It Awkward
Giving feedback is usually such a big event. Employees turn up for meetings with their managers like they are going to the headmaster’s office at school. It’s all rather formal and terrifying.
Instead of going down that route, provide feedback in real time. Little comments such as “why are you doing it that way?” and “please can you improve this aspect” can go a long way. Most employees will take these slight course corrections to heart, but also won’t think too much about them, particularly if you make them seem like passing comments.
Provide Space
Teams need room to do their work. Colleagues have to feel like they can stretch their wings and actually get things done. They need a certain level of autonomy to feel effective and motivated.
To provide this, avoid hovering around. Don’t be like the teacher who peers over the student’s shoulder, putting them off their work. Take a step back and just allow the magic to unfold. When talking to your team, be inspirational. Give them permission to work as hard as they possibly can to achieve their objective.
Offer Perks
Some employees respond well to perks. They’re often far more tangible than just extra money in the bank at the end of the month.
As such, don’t be afraid to use them. Employees often feel much more incentivized to do their best when they are getting something directly in return for their efforts (not just a regular salary that ticks over like clockwork at the end of every month).
Improve Your Work Environment
Team productivity also depends on the quality of your work environment. If you have people working in dingy offices with little access to natural light, then productivity will go down. However, if they’re able to work in more pleasant environments, you’ll notice that the amount they produce per day rises.
Design your office in a way that makes it a pleasant place to be. Certain interior themes unconsciously affect workers, making them feel more serene, enhancing the speed they work at. Adding plants and flowers can also have a profound effect on their wellbeing, encouraging them to stay in the office longer.
Use Team Building Exercises
Even if each member of your team is highly qualified, poor linkages between them can make it unproductive. If employees find it hard or awkward to communicate with each other, things won’t get done.
Many companies use team building activities to break the ice and create more cohesive units. When people go through a series of contrived challenges together (under the supervision of the team building agency), they are more equipped to face real ones later on.
When you have a large group of people, not everyone will like each other. Even more strangely, many won’t know why they dislike each other.
Team building helps to change colleagues’ mental state, getting them out of their own minds and focusing more on the team as a whole. Over time, it changes the dynamics. People become less concerned about themselves, and more interested in how the team is progressing as a whole.
Find Out Whether Your Team Has Weaknesses
Sometimes team productivity can fall because of bottlenecks in your organization. Maybe you simply lack the required skills.
To root out weaknesses, ask team members what they are struggling with and what they need to succeed. In many cases, you’ll find that it is easy to import skills into the team or outsource particular tasks to third parties.
If teams aren’t communicating effectively, then they won’t be able to get work done. Make sure that each member of the team fully understands their responsibilities and what’s expected of them.