7 Proven Ways to Improve Team Productivity

When hiring new employees, one of the most essential considerations team managers make is the person’s ability to work efficiently and effectively. Productivity is a crucial measure of a person’s effectiveness within a team. And if a person’s productivity does not meet an organization’s standards, then something must be done to address the issue.

However, before your team productivity reaches a point where it is beyond help, it is best to proactively improve the way your team works together to achieve common goals. Here are seven tips on how you can improve your team’s productivity, plus some bonus tips on how you can take advantage of Kanban Zone’s online Kanban board to help improve your organization’s workflow and performance.

1. Promote Open Communication and Feedback

One way to enhance team productivity and foster a positive work environment is to promote open communication and feedback within a team. Team members who are able to share their thoughts and concerns without fear of judgment or backlash are more likely to engage and collaborate with the entire team and management. 

Incorporating open communication in the organization’s work culture makes employees more open to expressing their ideas and feedback. Moreover, team members who are usually more attuned to the organization’s daily operations can provide more insightful comments or suggestions to help improve processes and derive innovative solutions.

Organizations can build trust and strengthen relationships among team members by staying committed to continuous improvement and establishing a work environment where employees’ input is valued. This helps employees feel empowered and align their efforts with the organization’s objectives, ultimately driving team productivity and success.

2. Set Clear Goals and Monitor Progress

Establishing clear goals and monitoring their progress is essential to significantly enhancing team productivity. One proven method of setting clear goals is using the SMART criteria. Ensuring your goals are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) increases your chances of success and makes it easier to monitor your progress.

Here’s how you can effectively set clear goals to help your organization succeed:

• Create a list of your organization’s goals following the SMART criteria.
• Create an action plan by breaking your goals into smaller, actionable steps. 
• Set a realistic timeline for your goals, taking into account your current commitments and any potential obstacles that may arise.
• Select a visualization tool, such as a Kanban board, to help you outline your goals and share them with your team. A Kanban board will also help you monitor the progress of your goals and action plan.
• Identify any potential challenges you may encounter and develop strategies to address and overcome them. You can better maintain your organization’s momentum by being prepared for obstacles.
• Assign team members to take charge of each goal or action. Use your Kanban board to delegate every task to all team members who can contribute to your overall progress.
• Review your progress regularly and adjust your goals as needed. Schedule weekly check-ins with your team members to ensure everyone stays aligned and focused on their goals.

An effectively laid-out plan of action can make achieving your goals much easier. Setting clear goals will help provide clarity and focus, boost motivation, facilitate accountability among team members, and encourage continuous improvement within the organization.

3. Integrate Team Collaboration Software

The internet is teeming with options for collaboration software. Depending on your organization’s size and nature, you can choose from simple tools or software that supports a more complex workflow and organizational structure.

Kanban Zone is among the many tried-and-tested online platforms for team collaboration. As a visual management tool that leverages the power of Kanban, Kanban Zone is an ideal solution for businesses across various industries. This platform enables you to create simple Kanban boards to track your daily work progress or customize a more complex board tailored to your organization’s workflow.

With Kanban Zone, you can collaborate more efficiently, communicate better, and share relevant documents through card attachments. Incorporating this Kanban platform into your daily operations can also help improve your flow of work without having to revamp your whole business.

For data security, Kanban Zone has several measures in place to protect user data and ensure secure access to the platform. These include using AWS Security Groups for EC2 instances, data encryption in transit and at rest, and secure login procedures via email and password. With its monthly pricing starting as low as $5 per licensed user, you can easily scale up or down to meet your team’s needs. 

Keen to find out if Kanban Zone is suited for your business? Sign up for a 30-day trial today! 

4. Invest in Employee Skill Development

One of the hidden culprits of low productivity is a lack of product knowledge. When employees lack a clear understanding of their role, it impacts their drive and interest, which in turn affects team productivity. Additionally, if employees are assigned tasks that are not aligned with their skills, productivity is significantly impacted unless they receive proper training and development.

By investing in skill development, you can see improvements in how your team handles work. IF you have the resources and talent available, you can devise a mentoring program and harness the training skills of your current employees. You can also opt for self-directed training, providing team members with access to online learning programs that they can complete at their own pace.

Cross-training your team members can also be an effective way to maximize your company’s manpower resources. This way, your employees can handle various types of tasks, which can also be beneficial for them as they expand their skill sets.

5. Prioritize Task Delegation and Accountability

Depending on the size of your organization and the daily workload, you may need to delegate tasks to ensure they are completed on time and within budget. 

When assigning tasks, your team members need to understand what they are expected to complete. This way, they can accomplish it per your expectations and take better ownership of their assignment. This will also help minimize the need to constantly check on the progress and risk micromanaging your team, which can impact their morale.

One beneficial tool for task delegation is a Kanban board, such as Kanban Zone. It can help improve how you manage and delegate tasks to all members of your organization. It can also support cross-departmental collaboration by connecting different boards and mirroring cards across relevant boards.

The platform also facilitates easier collaboration, as team members can communicate effectively through comments and name mentions, serving as a unified communication tool. Moreover, files and links can be easily shared, and documentation for tasks can also be stored in a single card, making task management more efficient and streamlined.

With a virtual platform that everyone on your team can easily access from any device, anywhere, you empower your team to be productive, making it easier to expect accountability from everyone.

6. Focus on Performance Management

One tried and tested strategy for improving team productivity is the consistent implementation of performance management. In fact, according to a recent survey, companies that value their employees’ performance are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their competitors and earn an average of 30% higher revenue.

By rewarding top-performing employees and providing relevant training to help team members enhance their performance, companies can experience improved productivity. Providing constant feedback and regular performance reviews can help team managers understand if there is room for improvement in their current team composition.

Additionally, it enables team managers to understand how they can support their team members in enhancing their overall productivity. By setting goals, providing relevant assessment and training, and rewarding high performers, organizations can build a team of highly skilled and productive team members, which can then help improve team productivity.

7. Address and Manage Employee Burnout

Sometimes, despite a healthy work environment, team managers may still find a few of their team members lagging in productivity. This is why regular one-on-one meetings and check-ins are essential. Managers need to keep in mind that their team is composed of individuals who have more than just work to navigate daily. Thus, it’s crucial to care for more than just their professional growth, but also their personal life.

Allowing your employees to relax and unwind, even during work hours, can help them refresh their minds and feel more invigorated, enabling them to accomplish more tasks. According to research by Gartner, when employees are allowed to rest, their performance goes up 26%. Additionally, only 2% of employees feel burnt out with work in companies that offer proactive rest, which is significantly lower compared to the 22% of employees who feel burnt out working for companies with no proactive rest strategies in place.

Another way to prevent employee burnout is to ensure that tasks are delegated evenly across the team. To ensure workload delegation is balanced, you can also utilize a visual management system, such as Kanban Zone. At a glance, you can identify which team members have a high volume of tasks that might be overburdening them, and then take the necessary action to help relieve them of the overload.

Keep the Team Happy to Boost Your Productivity

Employee satisfaction and productivity go hand in hand. With your employees taking on most of the hard work involved in keeping your company running smoothly, it is necessary to provide them with all the support they need to stay productive.

By having the proper set of tools to keep your employees working effectively and efficiently, you can expect a healthier level of team productivity. Bolster your team’s task management strategies with Kanban Zone. Start your free trial today and find out how you can unlock your team’s potential through enhanced workflow and more efficient collaboration.