9 Team Productivity Hacks For Project Managers

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For most people, the term “productivity” is all about getting their job/task completed before the deadline. Clearly, it’s not the ideal way to look at it. Being productive in the workplace is not getting things done as soon as possible but it’s about doing the most important thing in the most efficient way. If you’re a project leader and look forward to keeping your employees productive at work, then you might have to work harder than everyone else.

In this article, we will share some actionable productivity hacks that will help you achieve your targets and boost team performance simultaneously. So, if you’re seeking inspiration, try out one or more of the following:

Make your workspace employee friendly

The kind of workspace you provide to your team plays a crucial role in their success. Whether it’s your project room or the conference hall, you need to make sure that you provide your team with a well-equipped space to work in. Furthermore, you can consider adding some natural elements around in your workspaces like plants or natural light. They will surely help to create a more positive and motivating workspace for your employees.

Conduct fewer and shorter meetings

Nothing kills your team’s productivity more than unnecessary meetings. It’s true that you need to group up your team members and have regular discussions regarding their work but that doesn’t mean that you need to schedule a meeting for every matter. Consider using online team collaboration tools or online conference tools for a change. Try to conduct as fewer and shorter meetings as possible.

Put a software in place

Today, no business denies the significance of online project management software in boosting productivity and teamwork. Injecting the right software or tool in your work process helps in effective work management and improves communication between teams, regardless of their geographical location. There are popular online project management software solutions like ProofHub that are designed to help you deliver projects faster by bringing together your teams, projects, and clients at one place.

Create an optimistic schedule

Creating a project schedule is not just about setting due dates or assigned team members to tasks. Just take a step back and think about what exactly you and your team should be working on. Keep your goals realistic and don’t forget to consider your team’s capacity. You need to make sure that you’re not burdening your team and the deliverables you have presented to your team are attainable in reality.

Prioritize and delegate work efficiently

Another efficient way to encourage and improve team productivity is keeping your priorities and expectations clear right from the start. When you delegate tasks to your team members, describe them about the tasks that you want them to focus on. Set realistic estimates for how much time each employee should devote to their tasks. At the same time, help your team understand the quality work you expect at the end of the project. And most importantly, get out of their way and let them work in their own way.

Make the most of your team’s strengths

Just delegating roles and responsibilities is not enough. If you want to achieve greater team productivity, you need to understand what your team members are good at and assign roles accordingly. In fact, it’s proven that knowing your team’s strength and giving them their ideal role in the project can result in a higher level of productivity.

Follow the 2-minute rule to overcome procrastination

One of the biggest reasons why team members fail to achieve their true potential is procrastination. Most team members believe that the system is more important than the goal. That’s why they spend more time wandering within the process rather than taking actions. The 2-minute rule works really well in this scenario. It tells the team to focus more on tracking actions and let things move forward.

Tell teams to ask for help when needed

It’s a good habit to try to resolve an issue yourself first, but there is no point to torture yourself for hours. Tell your team members to ask for help or guidance whenever needed. Now, the trick here is knowing when it’s time to admit that you need help. Tell your team members that if they can’t figure something out on their own after hours of struggle, it’s better to admit that they are stuck and ask for a little inspiration from others.

Promote short breaks during the workday

A healthy mind always brings productive results and the same goes for your team. So instead of pressurizing your team regarding deadline and deliverables, focus on boosting their energy. Suggest them to take short breaks (10-15 minutes) between work. It will help them rejuvenate their thoughts and concentrate more on their job.

Conclusion
Each of the above hacks is easy to apply. They can help project managers get individuals together in a team and motivate them to take their performance to a whole new level. The more of these that you put into practice, the greater productivity you will achieve at work.

So, why get satisfied with mediocre results when you can achieve better? Try these simple hacks and tell us your experiences. Also, if you have some helpful tips that can help project managers boost their personal and team performance? Share them with us in the comments below.

Vartika Kashyap, Kashyap
Vartika Kashyap is the Marketing Manager at ProofHub and has been one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in 2017. Her articles are inspired by office situations and work-related events. She likes to write about productivity, team building, work culture, leadership, entrepreneurship among others and contributing to a better workplace is what makes her click.

1 COMMENT

  1. These hacks indeed sound like they might work. Another thing that works very well when it comes to increasing productivity is the Kanban method. It’s simple but powerful. You just need a board divided into 3 categories (to do, in progress, done) and you put your tasks into one of them. You can read more about it in a free ebook, check it out: https://www.slideshare.net/kanbantool/kanban-what-is-it

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