10 Tips For Managers To Help Their Team Be More Productive

Productivity is a very important part of any successful business. Your team needs to be efficient and make good use of their time for your company to be as successful as possible. However, it is often on the management team to do all they can to help employees be as productive as possible.

Also, productivity is about more than just making sure employees are always working. A lot goes into it and if managers don’t do their part, employees won’t want to either. Without any further ado, let’s go over some tips for managers to help their team of employees be more productive.

1. Provide the Right Training

In order for workers to be productive, they need to be properly trained. This ensures they will know the best and most efficient way to do things. There are several different kinds of training you can provide, and the exact kinds will depend on your industry and company. 

For example, let’s say you have a copywriter on staff and need them to write professional bios for your leadership team online. You can show them professional bio examples, explain to them the importance of these, and how to ensure they stand out, and show people in the best light.

This is only one of the hundreds of different kinds of training that can be provided to improve an employee's skill set. Training can also go a long way in helping workers be more productive because people will often work harder for a company that shows them they care and invests in them.

2. Use the Right Tools and Technology

Businesses rely on technology more than ever before, so be sure to provide your team with the latest technology to do their job well. Modern technology allows people to work much more efficiently, and save a ton of time and energy. Sure, they can cost you a bit, but you will save a ton more by being a more efficient operation.

If you use outdated tech or processes, it can severely slow down your employees and is bound to hurt their long and short-term productivity.

Tools that we love for teams include:

3. Give Them Enough Breaks and a Solid Work/Life Balance

Another way to improve productivity and morale is through ensuring your team enjoys the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, even during busy periods. Providing perks such as a HelloFresh promo code can encourage healthier eating options without taking time away from their schedules. These small gestures show you care about their well-being beyond office hours.

People today value work/life balance more than ever, and want an employer who provides a good one. If you overwork people and don’t provide enough breaks and generally don’t care about employee wellbeing, you will lose a lot of talented workers.

In addition to giving more breaks, enough time off, and flexible scheduling, there are many different methods you can utilize at the workplace to help people enjoy a better work/life balance. For example, the Pomodoro method can be good to implement. 

All in all, find unique ways to ensure employees are happy, healthy, and cared for. If you do, they will be more productive and happy, both at the office and away from it.

4. Clarify Roles and Expectations With Everyone

If you want people to be productive, do your best to clarify the role and what they are supposed to do. If you don’t tell a worker what to do when they start with your firm, it’s not their fault that they are unproductive. Give them a rundown of the tasks and duties, and be as detailed as possible.

In addition to their role, be sure to share expectations. This way, employees will know what you expect, and work hard to meet the expectations. If you don’t expect much from them, don’t expect them to go above and beyond on their own, you need to set those high expectations if that is what you want.

5. Communication is Key

Communication is an important part of many aspects of business, including productivity. If people communicate effectively, there should never be miscommunication or misinterpretation, both of which can lead to halts in productivity. Always provide the full story and it's better to provide more details than not enough.

Also, make sure you are open to questions. Communication is a two-way street, so keep an open door. If someone doesn’t know something, it’s better for them to ask you for help than to do things the wrong way and be unproductive at the same time.

6. Show Gratitude and Appreciation

Showing appreciation for a job well done is another way to encourage productivity. This can be through an email or call, but an in-person sign of appreciation can often be the most impactful. If you never comment on anything an employee does, they may think that you don't value them, and may not work as hard, as you never notice.

7. Avoid Micromanaging

Another way to help your team be as productive as possible is to avoid micromanaging. Micromanaging occurs when a boss provides a little too much supervision and doesn’t give employees enough space to do their job. These bosses may think they are helping, but this isn’t often the case.

In fact, there are many negative effects of micromanaging. In addition to hurting productivity and slowing down the completion of tasks, it can lead to higher employee stress. It can also stifle any sort of creativity.

8. Keep Everyone “in the Know”

Businesses have a lot going on behind the scenes, and it is a good idea to keep people in the know about things. Whether you are taking on new partners, introducing new technology or practices, or launching new products you need to be sure to have your team involved from the start. 

This can show employees that you value them and want their input on things. All of this can go a long way in helping them be more productive, as they will have a good idea of the direction of the company, and what they are working toward.

9. Provide a Positive Work Environment

Most people thrive in a place that is positive, as it allows them to focus on their work and getting it done, and not office politics and trying to deal with negative people. The team should mesh well together, and you should have policies in place to ensure employees act professionally and collaborate with one another, not compete.

If your workspace is negative and full of toxic people, blaming and a lack of effective communication, people aren’t going to want to stick around long.

10. Use Meetings Sparingly

Meetings have long been a valuable tool for teams to collaborate, share ideas and ensure everyone is on the same page. Unfortunately, meetings are often a big waste of time. They take too long, hardly anything gets talked about and it takes away everyone from their work, sending productivity into a tailspin.

If you do need to have meetings, keep them short, and ensure they are worthwhile. Also, instead of in-person meetings consider Zoom or Skype meetings, as they can often be quicker and still allow people to remain at their desk and do a little work at the same time, potentially.

Whether you use all of these tactics, or only a few, they can be great for helping your team be more productive at the office.

This article is a guest blog written by Kyla Stewart. To contribute a guest post to Workast.com, please complete the expression of interest form here.