Every organization, every year, is trying to increase its revenue and thereby profits. Of course, for higher revenue, they need higher output. Thus, higher productivity. The leaders, managers, L&D, and HR professionals of all companies worldwide try to improve the productivity of their employees in their way. Productive employees lead to efficient operations, less time and energy consumed, and better output.
But how exactly do we enhance productivity? Some magic formula? Or is it just trial and error?
Well, having trained more than 150,000 corporate professionals across 20 different countries, I have picked up some insights over the last two decades.
Firstly, employees are far more productive when they are driven by a sense of purpose. Align them to your organization’s vision. Nurture the organization’s culture into them and make them future-ready!
How? Let’s dive in.
1. MICROMANAGEMENT
Every individual learns at their own pace and works at their own pace, their way. Let them have freedom.
To quote Steve Jobs, “We don’t hire people so we can tell them what to do. We hire them so they can tell us what to do.”
Do not waste your time and energy micromanaging your subordinates. Quite often, it makes them uncomfortable, and they tend to underperform. Let them know that you are there for them.
2. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
“Great job! This is exactly what I needed.”
Well, this is what your employees need as well. Positive reinforcement. Appreciation for their work. At the very least, acknowledging their efforts.
Further, present them with opportunities to express their opinions, ideas, and views on your product, service, or operations. If the idea is admirable, let them know and share it with the other team members, accrediting the originator. It drives innovation and creativity, thus setting your organization apart from the competition.
3. SET MILESTONES
Do not let your team aim directly for the destination. It might seem overwhelming and a long way down the road. While some people are excited by the journey, some are discouraged. It is good practice to divide a long task into smaller milestones.
Completing these smaller milestones fuels the teams with a sense of progress. It proves to be uplifting for them while simultaneously driving your progress. It is just like a marathon. You do not worry about the 42.2 km, you simply focus on the next 1 km. With persistence, you keep achieving milestones along with steady progress, giving you a sense of accomplishment and avoiding the intimidation of the long distance.
4. INVEST IN TOOLS
The digital world has bestowed upon us a plethora of tools and software to organize our day-to-day operations, track our progress, analyze challenges and work methodically. Invest in them.
The tools provide a much more disciplined approach toward our work and sort most things out for teams. It significantly helps in improving the productivity of individuals.
At SimuRise, we have tools to help us boost our productivity, communication, marketing, operations, and sales as well as keep track of timelines. It is a massive help in our day-to-day activities and lets us focus on the bigger picture, instead of dwelling on the trivial details.
5. OPTIMIZE YOUR MEETINGS
If it is a team meeting, ensure you only discuss what concerns everyone. Otherwise, take it up with the concerned individuals separately.
There is no need for everyone to attend all meetings. Let only the stakeholders attend. Take minutes of the meeting and document them. Share the actionable with team members individually, so it is all on record and easy to access.
And of course, use PowerPoint only when necessary.
6. TRAINING
Needless to say, if you wish to improve in any aspect of life, you ought to train. Similarly, if you wish to improve your team’s performance and productivity, you must train them accordingly.
Research shows that theoretical lectures and presentations seldom ignite the spark of transformation. Make them experience the learning process.
Explore experiential learning programs, business simulations, game-based learning, etc. to effectively transform their mindsets and build the values, behaviors, and competencies needed.
In just the past year and a half, we have helped organizations like Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Alkem Laboratories, etc. build their key skills, values, behaviors, and mindsets.
7. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND HEALTH
Employees and team members need to engage in activities and conversations other than work. It builds a team bond, develops collaboration, and improves morale significantly. What do you get when you do that? Yep, better productivity!
So, how do we engage the employees? Conduct tournaments, sports events, competitions, parties, team luncheons, celebrate birthdays, games, or milestones, or any reason you can find to step out of work and have fun!
A healthy employee will indubitably perform considerably well. Take care of your teams! They build your company. So, ensure you encourage them to lead a healthier lifestyle. Physically as well as mentally.
Organizations like TCS encourage their employees to partake in marathons to inculcate the importance of a healthy body and a healthy mind.
8. REWARDING
People who feel appreciated often perform better in their future assignments as well. It boosts morale and motivates fellow employees as well.
Rewarding them could go a long way in building productivity for further projects. It could be anything from incentives to an “Employee of the Month” program. Other than that, you can also reward them with a gift coupon, an extra vacation day, a set of healthy snacks, etc.
There you are! If you can instill most of these ideas into your organization, I am certain you will witness higher productivity.
