How Can You Improve the Productivity of Your Teams?

As a business owner, you want to make sure that your employees are hitting their targets and keeping daily operations running smoothly. This allows your business to move forward and remain successful, bringing new and exciting opportunities for your company as you expand. However, you need to make sure that you are creating the right working environment for your employees, to allow them to maintain their productivity, if you want to see your business move forward in this way. If you think that productivity could be improved amongst your teams, here are some tips to help you turn things around.

1.   Identify the Problem

If you have noticed that productivity is lacking, you first need to identify why this is happening. Is there a particular area of business operations that isn’t working as well as it once did? Do your teams need better training to understand how to use certain software or equipment? Are there tensions between employees that are causing breakdowns of communication and problems with teamwork? Once you have identified the problems that are interrupting the productivity overall, it will be much easier to tackle them head-on.

2.   Do Your Employees Have Enough Support?

One reason why productivity may have taken a dip in your company, is when employees do not feel like they have adequate support. This might be a case of further training as mentioned above, but it’s also about how effectively their well-being is being supported in their place of work. If your teams aren’t taking regular breaks, or you are setting them unrealistic targets, this can take a toll and push them towards burn-out. When your teams are finding things difficult, mentally and emotionally, this can potentially harm their physical health as well, resulting in staff taking extended sick leave. Employees might also decide to look for employment elsewhere because they can’t take the pressures in their current role, and this is why you should make sure your employees have access to this kind of support and are set realistic goals.

You can help to make your employees feel more supported by asking management to hold regular appraisals where team members can get feedback on their performance, as well as share any concerns they might have about the role or other work-related issues. You can also offer perks that could benefit their well-being, such as hiring a masseuse to come into the office, or giving them spa vouchers to use, or allowing teams to take half days on a Friday once every month or two so that they can have a little bit of extra time at the weekend to relax.

3.   Look into Upgrading Your Office Software

Productivity might be slowing down due to outdated software which is taking longer to load or is no longer compatible with other programs that your teams use. This is why it is important to make sure that you are making regular IT upgrades to keep your office computer networks running smoothly, allowing your teams to continue their work with ease. If you want to help your teams manage their daily administrative tasks, scheduling, goal setting, etc., easier, then have a look at this CoAmplifi productivity suite for businesses to improve team management.

4.   How is Team Work Being Encouraged?

If you want your teams to perform at their best, then quality teamwork needs to be in place. Think about whether or not there are enough incentives in place to maintain morale, and encourage your teams to work together. For example, you could offer prizes for teams who hit or exceed their targets each month. Arranging staff fun-days-out is another option you could explore, or hosting socials once a month at a local bar so that your team members can get to know each other better and form stronger bonds. This will also demonstrate your appreciation to your staff for all their hard work.

5.   Ask for Their Feedback

Another way you could try to improve productivity amongst your teams, is by asking them for their feedback on how their daily routines work. They might be able to give you some useful insights into how practical the current operations truly are, and whether or not they need something else to help them manage their work more effectively. Whilst not all of their suggestions may be suitable, feedback is still worth considering as they will have that hands-on experience of what works and what isn’t working as well for them.

All businesses rely on the hard work of their employees to keep things moving forward and meet the demands of their customers. This is why assessing the productivity of your teams and seeing where improvements can be made is so important, as not only does this allow your company to grow and keep its positive reputation with customers, but it can also mean that your teams are happier at work and can hopefully manage their workload with the minimum of stress.