eading a team, whether it consists of 3 team members or 1000 employees, is never easy. With so much to do and little time to do it, managers and team leaders have to learn, plan, prioritize and support their teams to streamline work and increase productivity. While doing all these, you need to ensure that your employees are on the same page with you to work as efficiently as possible.
If you’re feeling as if your team is not working as it should, maybe it’s time to do things differently and adopt a few new techniques that will help improve your team’s efficiency and productivity. Let’s discuss these tips so you can choose what suits your workplace.
Table of Contents
Identify your team’s strengths and weaknesses
The workplace today is quite complex and collaborative. That means team leaders have an extra duty to manage their workload and ensure their teams achieve the same. That means making a few extra steps to help teams manage their time well and individually know each team member’s strengths and weaknesses. As the manager, it becomes your duty to discover personal talents and skills and grow them by allocating relevant tasks. Knowing what each member can do best is the backbone of a productive team.
Set and track realistic goals and expectations
You need to define your company goals and individual team member goals that will directly contribute to achieving the overall company goal. Each employee should understand their part in the business and have a clear plan of what to do. Analyze your team critically and decide what people will work on what project and which team can accomplish more when committing to less. Have an honest dialog with your teams and clarify your expectations. Let your team know what is valuable to the company, the quality of work you’re expecting, and the outcome you’re trying to achieve.
Embrace the coaching approach
Great managers lead by example. When you teach your employees how to perform a task, you also learn how to solve problems better. Instead of telling your team what to do, be at the forefront to demonstrate how it’s done. Your team learns better, and when they encounter a problem, they can solve it on their own, which builds independence, trust, loyalty, commitment, and growth. The result is an efficient and productive team that requires little or no supervision.
Encourage proper and open communication
Proper communication is a key factor in improving productivity in the workplace. Let your team discuss the challenges they’re facing openly, the resources they need and how you can help provide solutions. Be open to new ideas, especially if they’re coming from your employees. Ensure there is an effective communication system among team members to prevent accidents and other mistakes. Encourage your team to connect and foster healthy work relationships to improve collaboration.
Invest in technology
While smartphones and the internet can harm productivity at work, proper use of technology can streamline processes and help your business achieve goals faster. Technology makes communication easier and enables more strategic planning and time management. For instance, you can organize tasks with real-time planning tools such as project management software or help your team grow their presentation skills using software like Beautiful.ai for team presentations.
Reward and appreciate good work
A happy team is a productive team. Employees are also likely to stay in an organization where they feel valued and appreciated. Whenever an employee performs a task well, appreciate them in front of others and reward them for their efforts. This encourages extrinsic motivation and inspires other team members to do their best.
You also need to provide constructive feedback to less productive employees. Allow them to explain the challenges in their tasks and help them solve them to improve their productivity. With some little guidance or some more room for creativity, you can make things better for your team members, which encourages them to be more efficient and productive.
