MAXIMIZING TEAM PRODUCTIVITY

We have all heard speeches about teamwork and the value of community and cooperation. Companies are agglomerations of different teams with different specializations. In sports, we have football teams and the athletics team. 

Most couples consider themselves a team. So basically, we are surrounded by teams and are even part of a team or two. Team members come from diverse backgrounds in training, experience, and abilities. Individually, they have unique temperaments, personalities, appearances, and proclivities. 

Gather your team around a shared vision.

Obviously, what keeps the tea together is a unity of purpose and the complementary synergy of each member. As a manager or an entrepreneur, it is your role to ensure that: 

a). You identify the strengths in each individual, 

b). You discover how each person’s strength can be fully harnessed to contribute to the overall purpose of the team.

c). How to unite the team towards the fulfillment of a common purpose. 

Master these three aptitudes and you are on your way toward being the manager of the year, or if you are an entrepreneur, you are perhaps looking at a billion-dollar valuation.

Below are tips collated from my experiences while working with entrepreneurs, training business leaders, and of course as a parent, looking after my family. 

The first thing you need to ensure is that you regularly have one on one meetings with each member. Talk to them personally and learn their weakness and strengths. Let them feel that they can share with you their personal feelings at any given moment and that they are a priority and valued member of not only the team but the whole organization. 

A good manager is approachable and open.

When meeting the team as a group, make them understand the goals you have set for them and how important achieving this will be for the whole organization. Make your team feel like they have a stake in determining the fortunes of the company. 

Encourage them to adopt productivity routines that work for them. For instance, we have people who perform at their peak late at night, while there are those whose productivity peaks in the morning. Allocate enterprise time slots for each member when they are expected to do 80% of their responsibilities for the day. Once you learn the different time slots and respective strengths of each member, partner team members whose abilities sync to pursue specific assignments especially while running a project. 

Make your workplace distraction-free but with a healthy dose of collaborative spirit. You could eliminate working cubicles but introduce partitioning glass. Outlaw social media and personal communication from the office while encouraging team interaction and consultation. Members can relax, exercise, and take showers on the premises, while you could provide daycare centers at the premises for parents with young children.  

Continuously train and upskill your team. Make opportunities for career advancement available to those who perform exceptionally and pursue further studies. 

You could foster competition among members but ensure it doesn’t antagonize members against each other. This can be attained through showing equal treatment to the losers and losers of any competition. Avoid favoritism by rotating team leadership and following a roster in allocating special assignments.

Assume the best intentions and be slow to impart blame.

Assume the best intentions. In my opinion, this is probably the easiest habit to break but the hardest to remember. People tend to assume someone purposefully fails you when tensions are high, and frustrations are peaking. But, at the same time, making a choice to be happy and assuming nobody meant to frustrate and irritate you is much more complicated.

Even on high-performing teams, there may be instances where your assumption is incorrect. But this tends to be the exception, not the norm. When we take a moment to pause and assume positive intent, we’re able to reframe circumstances to reflect a more positive outlook.