Tips to Increase Your Team’s Productivity
Do you walk to the parking lot and drive home dumbfounded trying to understand why you feel like you got nothing accomplished today? Your team is full of ‘I don’t knows’, so they just do nothing. Workload is growing but nothing is getting marked off the list? A vicious circle that seems to be moving at 100MPH, but no one seems to be doing anything to fix it nor know how?
Unfortunately, I witness these same thoughts when I leave clients on a weekly basis.
Here are two common realities that I am sure you can relate to.
Reality #1
To carry out projects or fix problems, most of the time this requires multiple resources and multiple actions. So, when you have a situation that affects multiple people, requires different people to carry out different actions, and has interdependencies, how does all of it get accomplished? How does the ‘right hand’ know what the ‘left hand’ is doing? You setup a meeting to talk about the situation only to leave and not understand who is going to do what and when it is going to get finished.
Reality #2
But here is a better, more frustrating one for you…happens to me on a daily basis…you have the meeting, we decide collectively as a group what needs to be done and close the meeting. You follow-up with the group or maybe just some individual team members in the group about what was discussed and no one seems to know what you are talking about. Ugh!
I know you are shaking your head ‘yes’ at this point because you are feeling my pain ☹
The issue is not just a team member or two with their head in the clouds (although this will affect the outcome! So keep this in check too!), it is a lack of process and discipline to follow a defined process.
Below is the method to my madness when I am faced with these situation. I have found that I repeat this process over and over again, so it must be working…
Team Effort
A team lead or manager should take ownership of solving the issue or overseeing the project unless they have delegated it. However, this does not mean that you are responsible for it all. Pull the affected team together and build your plan. Whether you want to admit it or not, the team knows more collectively than you do sitting alone at your desk. Getting everyone’s input will allow you to understand all connection points between multiple parties all at once and allow one version of the plan versus multiple on the backend when you have to keep revising it. This will also eliminate any hard feelings and build collaborations within the group. There is a big difference between doing something because it is the best for everyone versus being told to do something and not understanding the meaning behind it. Lastly, but probably most important, this allows the team to feel like they are invested in the outcome because they helped build it.
When building your plan, keep these things in mind:
Split Tasks Up
As you are working through the plan, deciding who’s doing what is essential to make any progress. Clearly dividing the labor and assigning tasks accordingly helps ensure that things won’t fall through the cracks, prevents duplicated effort, creates accountability, and keeps team members focused on what they should be doing.
Keep Documentation Together
When it comes to tasks, splitting it up makes sense, but not for documentation. On the front-end as a part of the plan, determine as a team how you are going to organize your documentation. It is recommended to find a directory where all team members will have access to all documents related to the plan/project/problem. If you are using a project management software, sometimes this will be your solution, but if you are using a more simplified approach, you may need to use a shared directory within your network, dropbox-type solution or Google drive. Any of these solutions will help you prevent a productivity halt or confusion within the team.
Use Technology where it Makes Sense
Although technology will not always be the answer, you want it to be part of it, especially in this case. Depending on the size of your problem or project, you are going to need some assistance and it all cannot be manual labor. Use products like Microsoft Office programs or other small pieces of project management software to help you manage task lists, task list dependencies, team member tasks, deadlines, priorities, meeting calendars, agendas, meeting minutes, etc. This will allow you to manage everything in one place and then the team can access it as needed. The best benefit of using some type of technology…you do it once and reuse it for other projects, problems, etc. You don’t reinvent the wheel each time. Now I can build a process around this that can be repeated and deployed to my team one time.
Touch Base Regularly
When you are in the planning phase and deciding as a team how you are going to accomplish the problem or project, identify a meeting cadence that makes sense for the team. Of course, there will be times that unplanned meetings will be necessary, but determine a regular check-in time; i.e. weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. where you want to get back together with the original team to discuss progress, roadblocks, answer questions, make announcements and/or provide additional direction. This step is key. You cannot expect to meet one time and then expect some document or piece of software to ensure everything happens as it needs to. These check-ins should serve as your ‘pulse’ to make sure you are still on track to the plan.
Taking steps like these can not only help keep your team on track but also yield efficiencies that allow you to get more work done with fewer people, or even provide the proof you need that you are understaffed. With every task clearly outlined on the calendar and due dates for every stage of a project, you’ll have a crystal-clear picture of how much work your team can handle–and how much it can’t.
However, at the end of the day, your reality now is clearly documented, discussed frequently and gives everyone accountability to the outcome. Most important of all, you’re moving in the right direction, everyone is looking that same direction and your team is being productive! So…get to started now!
All the best ~ SLS
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SL Smith & Associates became a firm in late 2014. It was a result of the owner, Stephanie Smith breaking out from working for SAP consulting firms and doing it on her own, convinced that the cookie cutter consulting the same way for every one was so frustrating and not getting the job done.
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