Find out how to increase productivity across your team in this month’s Leadership Matters

Productivity is a buzzword we often hear but what do we mean by it? Completing tasks in less time with less effort could be one description. We think productivity happens when individuals pull together as a team to get stuff done, all contributing their strengths towards a common goal. Collaboration, cohesion, communication, culture, and celebration all play a key part in sustaining productivity.

Here are nine areas worthy of focus if you want to increase or maintain productivity:

Ownership and accountability

• Clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations. Where does one role stop, and another begin?
• Matching pictures of success between you and each team member
• Effective delegation, versus tasking (transfer ownership and check the person truly understands what you are expecting them to produce and by when)
• Proper follow through without micromanagement

Allow autonomy

• Coach to empower team members to use their initiative and drive their own work
• Design a working environment where you measure effectiveness by output versus presenteeism
• Support team members in playing to their strengths and working in a ‘flow’ state
• Agree ways of working that suit both the business and the individual

Motivate

• Understand what makes each person tick – what gets them out of bed each day? Why are they here?
• Support individuals in developing both their Skill & Will, through training, mentoring, and coaching
• Set people up to succeed – few people, if any, come to work to do a bad job!
• Correctly balance support and challenge

Feedback and recognition

• ‘Catch people doing something right’ (Blanchard) rather than only tuning in to gaps or problems
• Practise a ratio of 5:1 pieces of positive versus constructive feedback (without artificially manufacturing the positive!)
• Give specific behavioural feedback – when you thank someone, make sure they know exactly what behaviour you’d love them to replicate
• Don’t fear ‘recognition’ – it doesn’t have to be costly

Build trust

• How do you encourage each team member to build trusting relationships?
• How credible and dependable is each person and what have you done to support them in developing these traits?
• How do you support a working environment that is beyond ‘transactional’?
• How trustworthy are you – do you keep your promises (e.g. regular 1 to 1s, checking a piece of work by the agreed deadline)?

Effective processes

• How well do your processes align with your company’s:
  Purpose
  Vision
  Values
  and goals?
• How many of your internal and external processes are adding value?

Communication

• How would you and your team rate the level and effectiveness of communication in your area?
• In times of change – how well do you practise the mantra ‘communicate, communicate, communicate – even when there’s nothing to say,’ to avoid people making assumptions about what’s going on?
• How inclusive is your communication – methods, times, language used (e.g. avoiding insider jokes and jargon that may not be known to all), etc.?
• How well do you check understanding rather than remain in ‘transmit’ mode?

Role model collaboration

• How two way is your approach – do you give a clear steer when needed but also allow each person to genuinely have a voice and input ideas?
• Do you dedicate regular time for work and social 1 to 1 time?
• How well do the team understand your role within it?
• How trusting are you in sharing information, so that team members can make sound commercial decisions in their everyday work?

Time management

• How well do you and your team invest time upfront in planning how to take care of Team, Task, and the Individual (Adair) before getting stuck straight in?
• What collaborative project management tools do you have in place to avoid duplication of work?
• How well is each team member able to prioritise their work using methods such as Covey’s Urgent v Important, the Pareto Rule or Eisenhower’s Matrix?
• What work has been done to identify and eliminate time stealers including endless meetings and interruptions?

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For more leadership tips, read through our past Leadership Matters articles on Hampshire Biz News. And as always, if you would like to bounce any ideas or undertake any coaching, mentoring, or training with our team of leadership and employee engagement experts, please get in touch.

• alisoncraigcoaching.co.uk