Productivity Hacks

Unlock Your Team’s Potential: Productivity Hacks That Really Work

Productivity in a business or workspace is vital in keeping an organisation functioning, yet we still often forget to focus on those things which promote a productive workforce. Too often, we become too focused on the tasks at hand and the imminent deadlines and lose sight of the bigger picture. Below are 5 productivity hacks which will transform any team member into a force to be reckoned with:

Redesign the Space

Whether you’re talking about an office space used by a team of 40 or you’re talking about your study nook at home, it’s always a good idea to keep the area fresh. When our surroundings become stagnant, our brains struggle to become stimulated and productive. It can be something as simple as rearranging your desk and decluttering, to adding a bright new feature wall to the office with some cool artwork or just a splash of colour. Rearrange the furniture every now ad again, or perhaps you could add some greenery and plant life. A study conducted by the University of Exeter showed that plants improve the quality of employees’ lives in the office, and as a result, productivity levels increased by 15%. Plants are also proven to be useful for reducing pollutants and stress levels.

Calendar Management

If you want to create a productive work environment, you should be encouraging your staff or team as a whole to engage in some calendar management. We know that not everyone is into the idea of scheduling every minute of their day and having everything planned to the millisecond- and that’s okay. However, there are some pretty straightforward ways to engage in time management:

• Carve out blocks of time for yourself or your staff to focus on one project, client or task without interruption
• Colour code your calendar
• Ensure that you and your staff aren’t double-booked
• Block out times for people to work in a quiet environment undisturbed

Encourage your Team or Employees to Take Responsibility

When you’re running a business or managing a team, it’s easy to feel responsible for every little decision that’s being made and every piece of work which is being done. However, hovering over your team or employees and micromanaging them is going to make them feel less responsible for their work and so they will become less productive. When people feel that they have a voice and that they are being given a creative, strategic or decision-making input into their work, they will immediately have a greater sense of pride in their work. This pride and responsibility will act as an excellent source of motivation so remember to take a step back and have faith in your team as well as your hiring decisions.

Engagement is Key

To maintain productivity in any workspace, it’s vital that you keep your staff engaged. While you should avoid micromanaging, you should make a point of often explaining your overall expectations and maintaining a line of communication with your staff. You also need to ensure that the team are engaged with one another and everyone is working in cohesion, allowing each person to use their time and energy in the most effective way. The most successful teams will always be those that work with each other and maintain a sense of engagement with their goals. The WorkPlan Engagement Platform is the perfect tool to help keep your team focused on a shared purpose through collaborative portfolios, forums, events, quizzes, videos and assessments.

Encourage Self-Care

In a survey conducted by Heads Up, 76% of Australian employees who have taken leave due to a mental health issue attribute their ill-health to stressful jobs. Multiple studies have also shown that a lack of self-care is linked to a high level of absences from work, high staff turnover, poor quality of work, and overworking leading to burnout. Below are some ideas of how you can encourage self-care in the workplace:

• Create an office space with natural light where your employees don’t feel cramped.
• Encourage your team to share personal goals as well as work-related ones
• Don’t allow your employees to work out-of-hours consistently
• Encourage regular breaks
• Schedule non-work related events like lunches, exercise classes and fun team building activities
• Encourage the use of positive and encouraging language throughout your workspace