Business Growth 101: Smart Ways to Improve Team Productivity

February 5, 2024

Business Growth 101: Smart Ways to Improve Team Productivity

As a business owner, your primary responsibility is to encourage your employees to become better versions of themselves. If you do it the right way, your employees will not only become more productive but also become happier. However, balancing between leadership and getting the job done can be challenging. Fortunately, whether you have been managing others for a long time or not, leading your employees is a skill that you can easily learn.

Key Takeaways on Improving Team Productivity:

  1. Lead by Example: Demonstrate good time management and work habits. Your team is likely to emulate your behavior, so it's important to manage your workload effectively.
  2. Always Be Yourself: Authentic leadership is key. Avoid imitating others' styles if it doesn't align with your values. Genuine leadership will motivate your employees to be authentic as well.
  3. Tackle the Difficult Tasks First: Encourage your team to prioritise challenging tasks at the beginning of the workday. This approach sets a productive tone and stimulates mental engagement.
  4. Delegate Tasks: As your business grows, delegate complex tasks, such as IT services, to maintain efficiency and prevent chaos due to undefined responsibilities.
  5. Commend Good Work: Recognise and appreciate high-quality work. A simple acknowledgment like "good job" can significantly boost employee morale and productivity.
  6. Give Employees Freedom: Allow employees the flexibility to work in their preferred manner and encourage them to contribute their ideas. Respecting their individual work styles can lead to increased productivity and job satisfaction.

The article emphasises the importance of leadership, authenticity, prioritisation, delegation, recognition, and employee autonomy in enhancing team productivity and fostering a positive work environment.

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How to Boost Employee Productivity

Lead by example

First things first, you need to put your house in order by displaying good time management skills. Ensure you allocate your own workday hours smartly, including the emails you send, the meetings you attend, and the projects you pick. This way, your team will follow your lead. If you’re overloaded, you won’t have the time to think about yourself or your organisation.

Always Be Yourself

Your employees will sense when you’re trying to fake it, and they will lose their trust in you. Additionally, it will make your job and life less enjoyable. Don’t copy other people’s leadership styles, especially if it makes you uncomfortable. Leading in a manner that is consistent with your values and beliefs will motivate you every day, and employees will emulate you to become themselves.

Tackle the Difficult Tasks First

You can encourage your team to become more productive every day by handling the difficult tasks first. When you arrive at your place of work in the morning, start by working on the most challenging and most important tasks. This will put your employees into work mode, and it will stimulate their brains.

Delegate Tasks

As your business grows, tasks will become more complex. At the same time, the responsibilities of your employees will become less defined. If you don’t act quickly, instead of enjoying the growth of your business, the rapid growth of your business will lead to chaos. To avoid such a situation, you may want to delegate key tasks like IT services to increase efficiency in your business.

Screen New Hires

Another aspect to consider in enhancing team productivity is ensuring a safe and healthy work environment. Implementing a pre employment drug test can be a crucial step in this process. By ensuring that new hires meet your company's standards for safety and reliability, you can foster a more secure and productive workplace. This not only helps in maintaining high standards of professionalism but also contributes to the overall well-being and efficiency of your team.

Strategic Staff Training

Enhancing team productivity isn't just about managing tasks efficiently; it's also about ensuring your team is well-versed in the necessary regulatory and compliance standards. Incorporating a compliance training LMS into your training program can significantly streamline the process of keeping your team updated with the latest regulations and compliance requirements. This approach not only minimises risks but also empowers your employees with the knowledge they need to perform their duties confidently and compliantly.

Commend Good Work

Appreciating work that is lacking can encourage employees to be sloppy. While sometimes it can be hard to draw the line, being attentive to your employee’s efforts will allow you to give them the right recognition. Most employees are often too busy, and they won’t give credit where it is deserved. Therefore, be the one to applaud work well-done to motivate your employees. A simple “good job” can make the difference between productive and happy employees vs. employees that leave your business.

Give Employees Freedom

When your employees feel like they have to do their work in a particular way or they can’t be themselves, they will tend to be less productive. Have honest conversations with them about how they want to do their work and encourage them to use their ideas. Allowing your employees to work around their lifestyle will encourage them to work harder on what they enjoy doing.

Bottom Line

Whether you have a team of fewer than ten people or more, leading them is never easy. Grouping people from different backgrounds to work together towards certain goals can lead to miscommunication, clashes, and it can impact on their productivity. However, the above tips and automating some tasks can increase productivity, lead to happier employees, and reduce employee turnover.

Photo by Bich Tran from Pexels

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