The overall productivity of employees is linked to the success of a company. Productivity and motivation are important to increase revenues and achieve desired outputs. However, in reality, some bottlenecks and issues may affect productivity.
As a leader, you have the power to lead your employees so they may stay on track and be productive at work. With lots of knowledge in management, resilience, and open-mindedness, you can proactively address long-standing issues and new ones. Here are some tips to manage your team well to boost their productivity:
Be a role model so that employees will not hesitate to follow you.
People will tend to follow leaders who they can trust. And the easiest way to gain people’s trust is to be a role model they can look up to. Everything in you should show efficiency and knowledge. First, you must be one step ahead in having the right technical skills and knowledge that your department requires. Being a leader, you should also possess great organizational skills and strong responsibility. These are soft skills that will lead your team in the right direction.
Proactively address information gaps and solve problems.
Some employees may not be productive because they cannot access the right information about processes and procedures needed to finish a task. Help your employees to be more knowledgeable but addressing knowledge gaps. Try to organize workflows and processes and find solutions addressing problems related to document management processes. Write down specific roles, processes and keep workflow documents up to date for everybody.
Work on cultivating a healthy work environment.
The physical layout and overall work environments of the office affect productivity. It may not be a surprise to learn that working from home is a significant change for them as the comfortable setup boosts their productivity.
Bring more comfort in your office. Choose ergonomic furniture that will make everybody happy even if they have to work for eight hours and more. Purchase comfortable chairs designed to support good posture. Standing desks are also a new addition to consider. Even the most comfortable chair can harm back muscles. Thus the employee should alternately sit and stand up.
Good lighting is crucial to an employee’s overall productivity. Promote natural lighting as much as possible as they reduce eye strain and headaches. Examine your office windows. Is it time to change old windows and change to a more modern frame? For more ideas, consult with reliable companies such as Window Treats Inc, as they offer a variety of window treatments and advice.
You may also introduce daylight lamps that imitate natural lighting to make your workers comfortable at all times. Also, try positioning desks near or facing a window. Among remote employees, you may want to provide them with ergonomic chairs or keyboards. Also, encourage them to work near windows or in areas with lots of natural light.
Identify workflow issues.
Determine bottlenecks and other issues that give difficulties to employees. Be alert in addressing unclear guidelines, lack of information, signs of poor team organization, and work imbalances, in the beginning, middle, or end of the operations. Consider assigning department leaders to analyze project development as well as employee performance. Keep a monthly report and determine which areas need utmost intervention.
Being a leader does not mean working on your own and only considering your ideas. In your plans, you always have to consult your supervisors and employees to receive sound advice and opinion. Be systematic in talking to them about these issues. List down your biggest productivity challenges and brainstorm for possible solutions for each of them.
Decide which issue is the topmost priority and the issue that are easy to fix. Let team members know of your plan. Email your action plans, memorandum, and changes in rules and regulations to ensure that everyone is on the same page and is looking in the same direction. Establishing clear communication with all team members will also make them feel involved in achieving company goals.
You don’t have to schedule meetings whenever problems occur. You can always take advantage of technology and communication platforms for group discussions. These platforms also facilitate communication threads where messages are organized, and people can readily comment at their most convenient time.
Actual meetings may be hard to set up, especially when everybody has to practice social distancing. That said, you need to use platforms or channels for important discussions. You may also try other solutions that best work for your team to communicate effectively. the more time and effort you invest in your team, the greater the chances of success.
