Managing a team of employees is not easy. On the one hand, you want to retain consistent motivational levels, however, you still need to work towards those organisational goals. Sometimes, no matter how hard we work, or how hard we try to help our team, nothing is getting done.
If you are amidst a productivity crisis, it can help to take a step back, evaluating the processes, tools and techniques that may have lead to this failure of your team’s productivity. If you are constantly asking yourself how to increase your team’s productivity, the list below can assist in elevating employee morale and working towards a better organisational future.
Avoid Micromanaging
Micromanaging can be a hard habit to break. As a manager, it can often be tempting to grip the reins tightly, not giving your people the space they need to succeed and learn. However, it can often be a challenge letting these habits go, prioritising what matters and find comfort in stepping back. There is a powerful motivator in letting your team feel that they accomplished something on their own, so it is important to trust them. You have to have faith that the right people were hired, allowing them to make judgement calls for projects on their own.
Set Attainable Goals
To increase your team’s productivity, goal setting, aligning and tracking can be a critical component for motivation. Most organisations see a dramatic increase in employee and business performance when they effectively set individual employee goals that are closely tied to the company’s overall strategies and goals. If employees can see exactly where their efforts are being attributed, this can show tangible progress and in turn, help to motivate and increase your team’s productivity.
Praise a Job Well Done
To be really effective in motivating your employees towards productivity, you need to constantly be praising them for both big and small wins. Appreciation is a fundamental human need and it is essential to a successful workplace. If you are consistently praising your employees for a job well done,it confirms their work is valued, and helps to increase their satisfaction and productivity, motivating them to maintain or improve their work for next time.
Appreciation should occur during group and individual scenarios. People want to be respected and valued for their own unique contribution to a task, feeling a sense of achievement for work well done.
Provide Meaningful, Constructive Feedback
While your may work hard to praise a job well done, it is important that employees are receiving feedback for their tasks. True leaders understand the importance of feedback, knowing how to effectively and constructively deliver it. Whether positive or negative, feedback must be honest. You need to be clear about what you want done and why, ensuring you paint a clear picture to help them envision the post-change future and their role within it. This will help to instil a culture of trust and personal growth, as your employees feel you really value their place in the organisation.
Team Building Activities
While the idea of these can often produce a cringe and yawn from your employees, when done correctly, they are a great way to strengthen organisational relationships. For a team to work together productively and efficiently, it is important that everyone gets along. Taking employees out of the office can help to break down normal professional barriers, helping to eliminate distractions and have fun. The backbone of any team stems from the relationships the members have with each other, so the best idea is to create exercises that will help to strengthen these ties in order to increase your team’s productivity.
Training
The productivity of your organisation will largely depend on the skill of your employees. Nothing will de-motivate someone more than feeling as if they are ill equipped to handle a simple task. Consistent training can help staff members to increase their industry knowledge, as well as occurring changes in the field. Adult learning and adult education courses can be a quick and easy solution, and a way to tackle the problem before it even arises. College for Adult Learning’s Diploma of Human Resources Management will help prepare you to manage employee relations and to develop and manage performance management processes. This qualification is a great way to help you learn how to best manage employees and will, in turn, help you to increase your team’s productivity.
Listen and Understand
While this should be a no-brainer in all contemporary organisations, it is still one issue that is constantly being faced by employees. As a manager, it is essential to encourage two-way communication between you and your staff, working to understand the needs of your employees. It is also beneficial to listen to any ideas that they may have, because if employees feel sidelined, it will affect their motivation levels. Give importance to their ideas and feelings, because if they feel unheard, it will negatively impact your team’s productivity and efficiency.