Team productivity is in the spotlight as more people are now working remotely in distributed teams. Still, firms expect as much, if not more, output regardless of work location.
But how can team leaders increase productivity? And how can a team improve its performance?
In this team productivity FAQ, the Loomly Team answers all your questions.
Table of Contents
Team productivity is a measure of activities performed for quality output in a specific amount of time. It also involves raising the satisfaction of team members and providing the necessary tools to perform the tasks with complete efficiency.
According to Zistermo, employee productivity is a metric based on the amount of output on a project versus the amount of time it takes. You can also measure it against a standard or “base” of productivity for a group of workers doing similar work.
Productivity is a measure of how efficiently a process runs and how effectively it uses resources. Increased productivity can lead to greater profits for businesses and higher income for individuals.
For businesses, productivity growth is important because providing more goods and services to consumers translates to higher profits.
Blogin lists seven habits of a highly productive team:
Christoph Desjardins says productive leadership means a leader is responsible for the work productivity of his team and can change this productivity by his performance.
If a leader performs Goal Orientation, Support, and Time Optimization, then the productivity of employees increases.
Credit: ResearchGate
Deep Patel shared eight proven ways a leader can increase their productivity:
Liquid Planner shared eight tips to help team leaders establish and maintain a productive, collaborative team:
Three crucial factors influence employee productivity:
According to Frank Mercado, an organization with high employee engagement levels is at least twice as productive as its counterparts with lower employee engagement.
When the environment is negative or tense, engagement and productivity levels decrease significantly, affecting the company as a whole. You can ensure a positive atmosphere by encouraging positive and honest feedback and timely praise.
As Dann Albright puts it: “When ingredients like open communication, a focus on self-care and autonomy, and the basic human needs of trust and respect are baked into a company culture, the result is better employee productivity.”
Technology refers to everything employees have at their disposal to do their jobs.
The five functions of an effective team are:
Trust is the foundation of a good team. Trust is about being vulnerable and not burying problems.
Conflict management is required to enable open and heated discussions that can be resolved amicably.
Commitment requires employees to believe in their organization and leadership.
Accountability involves having high standards and taking responsibility, which includes both reprimands and praising. It is not about keeping score.
Focusing on results means there is no individual status or ego. Teams fail and succeed together.
Five traits make a team dysfunctional:
A lack of clear direction and commitment can make colleagues, especially star colleagues, disgruntled, and want to remove themselves from the team.
When team members are unwilling to be vulnerable with one another and refuse to admit their mistakes, weaknesses, or needs for help, a foundation of trust is impossible.
The need to avoid relational discomfort prevents teams from holding one another accountable for their behaviors that are counterproductive to the overall good of the team.
The desire to preserve artificial harmony stifles the occurrence of unfiltered, productive conflict, which results in poor decisions.
The desire for individual credit (ego, career development, and recognition) will erode the focus on collective success. If the team has lost sight of the need for collective achievement, the business ultimately suffers.
The distinguishing factor between effective and dysfunctional leaders is the mindsets the leaders possess.
Mindsets are the mental lenses that shape how people see and interpret the world around them.
Dysfunctional leaders’ mindsets attune them to mishandling situations and making poor decisions while simultaneously leading them to believe they’ve taken the best course of action.
According to Salesforce, there are ten ways a leader can improve team performance:
Tameday recommends following the ten steps below to make your team more productive:
Here are five ways to increase your productivity at work:
As a remote worker, it isn’t always easy to show that you’re productive and invested in your job. Here are four strategies to prove your productivity when working from home:
The five elements of successful teamwork are:
Effective communication is the most important part of teamwork and involves consistently updating each person and never assuming that everyone has the same information. Collaborating and being open to new ideas are also essential ingredients for a harmonious team environment.
One of the benefits of strong teamwork is that team leaders can identify all aspects of a project and allocate tasks to the most appropriate team member.
Strong and cohesive teams develop systems that allow them to collaborate efficiently and complete tasks promptly.
When a team works well together, colleagues feel more comfortable offering suggestions and ideas, which leads to more productive and collaborative brainstorming sessions.
All workplaces provide challenges, but having a healthy team environment can act as a support mechanism for team members.
You can measure productivity per individual, team, or even department with a simple labor productivity equation: total output / total input.
For example, if your company generated $80,000 worth of goods or services (output) using 1,500 labor hours (input), you would calculate your company’s labor productivity by dividing 80,000 by 1,500, which means your company generates $53 per hour of work.
You could also look at labor productivity in terms of individual employee contribution. In this case, instead of using hours as the input, you would use the number of employees.
For example, if your company generated $80,000 worth of goods or services in one week with 30 employees, you would divide 80,000 by 30, which means each employee produced $2,666 for your company per week.
Credit: SmartSheet
The best productivity tools for teams are:
Team productivity is measured by a simple labor productivity equation: total output / total input.
The most productive teams have strong and effective leadership that creates an environment where team members can collaborate to maximize results.
Follow the tips above to lead your team or work with colleagues in an open, honest, and supportive environment.