5 Things You Can Do To Boost Your Team’s Productivity

Globally, the three main internal concerns for CEOs are attracting, retaining, and developing the next generation of leaders. While those concerns are valid, they’re almost impossible to address when employees aren’t productive. Employees are interrupted 56 times per day. It takes them two hours to recover. That means they spend 60% of their time—or less—being productive. 

When your team members aren’t productive, they aren’t meeting deadlines, learning, or growing. They may also feel less engaged and unfilled. Disengaged employees’ productivity will dwindle to nothing, or they’ll leave—taking their expertise with them. Eventually, that will have a huge impact on your bottom line. 

Luckily, there are ways to boost the productivity of your entire office.

Studies have found that an employee’s physical environment has the greatest influence on his ability to focus. That shouldn’t come as a surprise; I don’t think anyone could be productive in a noisy, uncomfortable, and uninspired work environment. What is surprising is that many leaders aren’t investing in improving the physical workplace that hosts their team’s work. 

Maybe this is because they don’t have the budget. Perhaps they’re stuck in their old ways and refuse to change. Whatever the reason, it’s easy to revamp your workplace and see a swift change. Studies show, for example, that office plants can reduce anxiety, anger, depression, and fatigue. 

Repainting your office is another option. Color can affect behavior, including productivity. What exact color would make your team more productive? Well, that depends on the type of work you do. If you need to be mentally stimulated, blue is a popular choice. Yellow is ideal for creatives, while green creates balance. Red can stimulate you physically. 

Another effective way to enhance your workplace is to let in as much natural light as possible. If it’s not possible, install proper accent lightning or light therapy structures. Also, keep the office at around 71 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit, improve the air quality by installing air filters, and provide ergonomic furniture. 

Also, encourage your employees to keep their private workspaces clean and free of clutter, and purchase noise-canceling headphones for everyone. If you have the room, create different spaces for different activities, such as an eating area, a break room, and a quiet space for meditation. 

When you don’t feel great because you’re tired, sick, or stressed, you’re not going to be at peak productivity. While you can’t force employees to exercise, diet, or go to bed at a certain time, there are steps you can take within the workplace to encourage their health and wellness. 

For starters, you could launch an employee wellness program, promote preventive care, and provide healthy, nutritious snacks. Other options would be offering unlimited vacations, getting everyone to move around more often, and helping employees curb vices, such as instituting a smoke-free workplace. To get people moving, you could host walking meetings instead of traditional conference room meetings.  

“When organizations institute positive, virtuous practices they achieve significantly higher levels of organizational effectiveness—including financial performance, customer satisfaction, and productivity,” said Kim Cameron, co-author of a research article published in the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. “The more the virtuousness, the higher the performance in profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement,” Cameron added. 

You can apply these practices in your office by providing support, acknowledging accomplishments, taking a genuine interest in your employees, and never pointing fingers. Additionally, emphasizing the meaningfulness behind employees’ work and always treating people with respect and integrity are strong ways of showing your appreciation. 

Ultimately, this will create a positive work culture that will make your team happy. Both are proven ways to boost productivity. 

Even though we can’t stand it when someone is hovering over us, what’s hardest of all is living in uncertainty and not knowing what’s going to happen. A study from Arizona State University backed this up by discovering that hands-off leadership can thwart workplace productivity. 

The solution is to strike a balance between the two. For example, when assigning a task, provide the employee with all the tools and resources she needs to perform her duties. Provide clear guidelines and expectations on what you’re looking for. After that, let her work however she prefers. Just make sure to check in with her and offer help or advice if needed. 

Unnecessary meetings are one of the biggest distractions in the workplace. In fact, it’s been found that 15% of an organization’s collective time is spent in meetings. Not only is this a waste of time, but it also wastes money, with $37 billion going down the drain via unproductive meetings. 

Before scheduling a meeting, ensure it’s necessary. You may be able to bypass the meeting with an email, Slack thread, one-on-one, or conference call. If the meeting is needed, you can make it more productive by inviting fewer than eight people and keeping it as short as possible. 

You may also want to ban smartphones; they can be a distraction. Most importantly, create and share an agenda in advance so everyone can prepare. It will keep you focused on what needs to be discussed and limit off-topic conversations. 

As a leader, one of your most important responsibilities is to boost the productivity of your entire team. That may sound overwhelming, but it’s possible by optimizing your physical environment, prioritizing employee health and wellness, and creating a positive culture. Strike a good balance, and your team will be more productive and engaged. That can only be good for your bottom line.

Source: Forbes.com

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