“No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team.” Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn co-founder.
Team productivity... it’s what everyone wants and needs for small business success. But inspiring team productivity can be difficult. Your employees are from different walks of life – with a huge variation in personalities, working styles and strengths.
How do you successfully motivate and inspire a diverse group? Here are 31 unique ways to increase team productivity, while still empowering them as individuals.
Motivate them with team building exercises…
1. Hold a team building day. Team building exercises build a culture of trust and support, which is essential for productivity. These team outing ideas are a great place to start.
2 - Host a hackathon.
A ‘hackathon’ is a day where people from different areas of your company join to collaborate on a project from scratch, usually completing it in 24-72 hours. It’s team building, skill sharing, and incredibly fun.
3. Have a family day. It’s important that your workplace is inclusive for loved ones. Try to have a family day at your business at least once a year. This helps to solidify team bonds, boost motivation, and strengthen employee loyalty to the company.
4. Creative brainstorming sessions. Starting a big project from scratch? Get your team moving with an innovative brainstorming session. These unusual meetings help to stimulate creativity while unifying your team.
5. Start an exercise challenge.
An exercise challenge is great for team bonding. Hold a regular lunch-time walking competition, cycling group or morning squat challenge. It’s been proven that exercise boosts productivity - and you’re less likely to suffer the afternoon slump.
Try new ways of working...
6 . Use agile methodology. Agile is the name of a project management strategy that was invented by software developers in the 2000s, but many different industries can use the agile methodology to their advantage.
7. Hold daily stand-ups. A 5-10 minute team chat in the morning is a great chance to update each other, address any challenges and get the ball moving. Keep the time limit strictly under 10 minutes. This can replace the need for long meetings later in the day.
8. Create awesome meeting agendas. When long meetings are necessary, stick to a clear and concise agenda.
9. Keep your workflow visible. One of the best ways to increase productivity is with a visible workflow board. Everyone can see what team members are working on and the status of projects. Try an online system like Trello or use WorkflowMax by BlueRock for job, task and staff management.
10. Have a reward system. Your team should have clear targets, along with incentives for reaching them. Fun social events like team dinners, a day trip or sports matches give them something to strive towards.
11. Delegate by interests. Try to assign tasks to team members based not only on their strengths, but also their passions. You’ll see an immediate increase in productivity if they’re interested in the project, or when it aligns with their personal career goals.
12. Start a mentorship program.
Have a sign up form so staff can express their interest in learning particular skills. Then arrange for them to buddy up with a work mentor. When team members upskill, your whole company benefits.
13. Offer internal training. Your staff will be happier and more productive if they’re constantly learning new skills. This is especially true if they get to choose their development path. If they express the desire to study part-time at university, consider offering a flexible working scheme.
Add some spark to your space…
14. Create the perfect workspace, whether that space is at the office or at home. Take some time to reassess your surroundings. Natural light, ergonomic chairs, plants, temperature – they’re all important for employee happiness and efficiency.
15. Encourage clean eating. A healthy team is a productive team! Sign up for a weekly fruit box, or supply a nutritious staff breakfast once a week. Some cafes also offer corporate membership deals – pick one with healthy, diverse food options.
16. Invest in a water cooler. Water has been proven to increase productivity, so do everything you can to make sure it’s consumed. A water cooler or filtration system will encourage staff to stay hydrated in the office at all times.
17. Build fun communal spaces. Stuffy, formal meeting rooms don’t do much to inspire productivity. Create colourful break-out areas with bean bags, couches and interesting decor.
18. Limit distractions. Open plan offices are great in some ways, but they can make it difficult to focus. Create a ‘quiet zone’ for anyone who needs privacy to work on a solo task. If this isn’t possible, consider implementing a ‘no interruptions’ time of day, e.g. 2pm-4pm.
Measure team productivity…
19. Implement time tracking.
Employee time tracking is one of the most powerful methods of measuring productivity. It can show you where business profits are being made and lost, and which projects are problematic.
20. Keep individual time logs. Encourage your team to track their own time as well. This can help each team member identify their personal productivity hurdles. Armed with these insights you can develop better habits together.
21. Try a team pomodoro timer. Your brain can only focus for a certain period of time. Using Teamodoro on a big screen encourages your team to work in synchronised blocks, with short breaks in between. It’s not for everyone – but some work groups swear by it.
22. Have a peer review system. Create a formal channel so your team members can increase their productivity and performance together, through a constructive feedback process.
23. Celebrate workplace diversity. Hold events to celebrate different nationalities and cultures in the workplace, including diversity training days. This will help your team members to understand, enjoy and respect each other’s differences.
24. Share your DiSC profiles.
A team DiSC assessment is a great way of identifying the individual personalities within your team, and how you work best together.
25. Respect individual habits. Some team members work best at their desk, others increase productivity by being active and moving locations. Some like music while others prefer silence. Do your best to accommodate and respect individual preferences. Productivity is never one-size-fits-all.
And finally...
26. Eliminate excess tasks. Is your team bogged down with unnecessary meetings, small non-urgent tasks or office maintenance? Try to ‘trim the fat’, so your team can focus on big projects without distractions.
27. Set a powerful example. A team is only as good as its leader. If that’s you, make sure your own personal productivity is at its peak. You can’t expect the team to move mountains if they don’t have a strong role model.
28. Have an open door policy. Nothing hurts productivity more than confusion or a lack of direction. If you’re leading a team, keep an open door so they can approach you with any challenges and reach a quick resolution.
29. Minimise chatter. Is your entire Tuesday morning spent gossiping about the latest Love Island? Workplace friendships are beautiful, but they can be distracting for co-workers. Try to create ‘social spaces’ in the office that are separate from your quiet, working hubs.
30. Embrace the latest tools. Don’t be afraid of the learning curve – those who are scared of technology get left behind. Online productivity tools can have a huge impact on your team’s overall efficiency.
31. Set realistic goals. One of the best ways to increase productivity is by setting realistic goals. Your team should always have specific targets to strive for. They should also understand how these goals help your overall business objectives – helping to foster a sense of unity and purpose.
