Wherever you go, some people just seem to be more productive than others. What’s their secret? Indeed, sometimes entire workplaces seem super-productive. It’s no secret that these highly productive workplaces are frequently also high performing organizations. How does this happen? It’s obviously a huge competitive advantage to a business, but how do they do it? Surely if a company has found a way to make and keep their work forces super-productive, it’s a huge boost to their profitability? They must keep this a closely-guarded secret to keep them several steps ahead of the game.
There’s no such single secret – no magic wand and no special methodology; just some simple habits which productive people employ. Here are some key behaviors to develop in your staff which will help your organization to be one of those who are getting ahead:
1. Prioritize your workload instead of fighting fires. Set a minimum of one clear, measureable and achievable goal to be achieved each and every day. Without this, your team risk spending hours solving problems which are seemingly urgent yet strategically unimportant, without achieving anything tangible. Coach your team on managing their priorities and setting achievable and tangible goals.
2. Create, rather than prevent. Make sure your team’s goals focus on creating new achievements, rather than reactive goals designed to ‘fight fires’ or fix perceived problems.
3. Ensure your corporate energy is positive. When you walk into your workplace, what is the feeling in the air? Does the organization feel positive and energized, or is it fueled by fear and oppression? The overall atmosphere in the organization starts from the top, so demonstrate a positive attitude and make it infectious!
4. Make email a part-time occupation. Email, like housework, is one of those nebulous tasks which expands to fit the time available! If you allow them, your staff will spend their entire days with an eye on their email instead of fully focusing on the tasks at hand. Set times for checking and responding to emails, stick to them, and follow them yourself, too. While you’re doing this, pick times when people can actually act on the contents of their inboxes – if they can’t, you’re just building in energy-sapping stress. For most organizations, first thing in the morning, mid-morning, after lunch, mid-afternoon, and at the end of day make sense.
5. Don’t come down too hard on social networking. Like it or not, social media is hugely popular, and people will check their newsfeeds during the day. If you block those sites on company machines, then they’ll just find another way to do it, which will be far more time-consuming and productivity-damaging then just letting them get on with it within reason, for example at set times when Twitter, Facebook and similar sites are allowed. Compromise and you’ll get better results in the long run.
6. Accept that there’s no such thing as a perfect outcome. Striving for excellence is a noble goal. Striving for perfection is a waste of time. Be clear about what a good outcome looks like, and learn to live with it. This is not a suggestion that you let quality slip, just the suggestion that a pragmatic and realistic approach will allow your team to be much more productive.
7. Know your priorities. How much of an employee’s day is spent on work which actively contributes to the progress of the organization? How often do you hand out work which doesn’t need doing? When you ask someone to do something, always follow their progress and the outcome. You’ll soon realize when you hand out work which is a waste of time, and you’ll naturally streamline the work to only include tasks which are worth doing.
8. Don’t confuse ‘busy’ with ‘productive’: The human brain works in 90-120 cycles of optimum performance, which are known as ‘ultradium rhythms’. Outside of these cycles, it’s almost impossible to concentrate. Think of the working day as a series of sprints, rather than a marathon. Instead of operating a culture where everyone is expected to power through the day, give people the freedom to work with their natural rhythms and take breaks in accordance with these cycles.
9. Keep your mind on the big picture: The productivity levels of you and your team are directly connected to how linked in you are to your organization’s strategic goals. This gives your work purpose, and the long-term, sustainable energy that such purpose provides. It is the motivation you need for you and your staff to keep up the levels of productivity which are needed for truly great performance.
