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3 Simple Strategies to Improve Team Productivity
Hands on and hands off manager 2

3 Simple Strategies to Improve Team Productivity

By Michael Chibuzor

Truth is, we all want to improve team productivity. But the challenge is, how do we do it?

Getting the most out of your team can be daunting, but these three strategies can help.

1. Set effective standards for communication

improve team productivity set standards for communication

According to McKinsey Global Institute, when the employees are connected, productivity is expected to increase by 20% to 25%. This increase in productivity translates to over $1.3 trillion a year.

Communication standards or team norms will help your team connect.

These standards set the rules as to how team members are supposed to interact with internal and external stakeholders. The best way to set standards for team communication is to develop and communicate them in the first team meeting.

Generally, a lack of communication within teams and organizations is obvious. To boost the team’s productivity, it is essential to develop communication rules and standards that guide team members as to what they are expected to do and how and when they should communicate.

Your team should work on the standards of communication together, starting with a meeting, taking in ideas for how to improve, and then creating standards that you’ll re-evaluate over time.

Key tip: Use project management software like Workzone to facilitate team communication and keep all project communication in one place.

2. Understand how your team works

improve team productivity understand how your team works

Whether it be through tools, feedback loops, happy hours, or daily snack breaks, a manager should know how their team likes to work.

When you understand how your team likes to communicate, you can implement tools to help you automate some of the communication such as with project management software. More than 50% of people like project management with collaboration features, while only 16% prefer standalone tools.

Getting on board with the right tools is important. How do you intend to lead a successful team, especially when your workforce quickly expands from 5, to 50, to 100+. How would you plan to stay connected?

3. Limit distractions

improve team productivity interruption free office

Workplace interruption is one of the biggest hurdles in productivity. One of the best approaches to increasing productivity is to provide your employees with a quiet and distraction-free environment.

The average employee is interrupted every 3 minutes and 5 seconds. It takes as much as 23 minutes to get back to where they were previously. This survey reports that 49% of tasks are interrupted on a regular basis in private offices and the percentage climbs up to 63% with open-plan offices.

Here are a few tips to get rid of interruptions:

  • Understand the signs of a focused worker. Know when they are busy, when they aren’t. The “headphones” rule is helpful in lieu of an actual sign. If someone has a pair of headphones in, they are busy!
  • Use a communication tool to communicate with the team. Ask your teams to communicate via chat or email during office hours. Tip: Use the Do Not Disturb status.
  • Create an “Interruption-Free Zone.” Anyone who needs privacy and doesn’t want to be interrupted should go to the Interruption-Free Zone. Designate a ‘privacy room’ for employees if they don’t have their own office.
  • Encourage use of the calendar. If someone needs an uninterrupted hour, make sure they block the hour off on their calendar.

By using these strategies, you’ll improve the productivity level of your team immediately. Your hidden competitive advantage could be creating a more productive team.

improve team productivity chart