Managing an entire team can be a daunting task. A manager’s work becomes hard as their team size increases, bringing many challenges along with it. Team clashes, miscommunication, differences of opinion are some hurdles a manager overcomes every day. No matter how many difficulties arise, a team leader takes command of the team and gets the job done through an effective leadership style and different approaches. It keeps the team moving forward and helps in achieving the goals together. However, this only leaves one issue that managers find difficult to deal with and resolve. The issue is the loss of productivity. The decline in productivity among employees in a workplace has become a challenge for many managers.
Focus and efficiency are often tough to achieve while working in the office or at home. This issue among employees has a complete connection with the number of distractions present around. A few of these distractions could include checking the phone constantly or scrolling through Instagram while at work. Another reason is the failed work-life balance. These instances occur when employees attempt to balance their personal lives and their careers but fail miserably. As a consequence, employees become overworked and exhausted, which results in a drop in productivity.
To provide a solution, a manager needs to understand the reasons behind decreased employee productivity. So, a manager must understand their team. Specifically, they should know the capacities and working patterns of each employee in the department.
And with a few hacks, managers can restore lost productivity in their teams. These hacks are not any motivational videos or quotes to motivate them for a minute or five. Instead, they are practical methods managers use in their daily work. So, bookmark this blog post because it will be your guide along the way.
Delegation of Work and Ownership
As soon as an employee starts performing poorly and lacks motivation, it indicates the perfect time to implement this strategy. An employee will benefit in many ways from being given ownership over a project or goal by a manager. They will start feeling a sense of responsibility towards the given role. One will act motivated towards fulfilling duties and will limit distractions. Also, employees will feel their contribution is valuable to the organization and helps the company inch towards its goal. They will begin to see their work in a whole new light. And hence, productivity among the employees will increase.
Another way here is delegation of work. Delegation is a good productivity hack for managers and their teams. Employees are assigned projects and made accountable for those tasks. By delegating the work, the responsibility of an employee increases. Employees often get projects or tasks that are usually different from what they are doing. The situation exposes them to a new skill and a new learning experience. Therefore, each employee gets motivated to perform, and fatigue reduces. It increases accountability within an employee without imposing a heavy workload on them.
Improved Communication
Lack of proper communication flow between managers and their employees invites productivity issues. Taking an example of the Covid-19 scenario, a large part of the population is still working from home. Since the entire communication takes place virtually, employees often feel disconnected from their work and organization. They are unable to communicate and feel detached while working remotely. Moreover, the instructions tend to become unclear, which leads to confusion about what they should do.
Hence, the entire management team can improve communication through brainstorming sessions, improved meeting efficiency, giving feedback, and addressing employee issues. Effective communication creates a fast and seamless flow of information. Particularly when employees have to work with multiple departments, this flow is required. Furthermore, with the help of managers addressing issues, employees feel secured and start opening up by candidly sharing the challenges they face. It helps the manager track the difficulties faced by the team. As soon as an organization and its manager address employee concerns, an employee feels more inclined to trust them. In this way, they will feel connected to the company’s mission and aligned with their job.
Prioritizing Work
Often an employee is assigned a lot of tasks, so they tend to feel overwhelmed. And many times, managers oversee this issue thinking that prioritizing work is an individual aspect. The fact is that managers should guide their employees on each undertaking and set deadlines based on urgency level.
As soon as work gets prioritized, employees can plan their routine. It keeps team members and managers on the same page as both can work towards a common goal. Deadlines given will help in the measurement of efficiency. Furthermore, it will limit confusion and the risk of overlapping tasks. By focusing energy in the right direction, an employee’s efficiency will increase automatically.
A clear picture always helps. Below is a popular theory about the need for prioritization. Dwight D. Eisenhower presented the concept that revolves around prioritizing urgent work over the less crucial ones.
A brief overview of the types are mentioned below
Urgent and important:
Tasks here are priority and deadline-driven. Initiate and complete these tasks as quickly as possible.
Not urgent and important:
These tasks are long-term tasks. Despite not having a deadline, they are a valuable part of your work. Hence, it is best to schedule them.
Urgent and not important:
Meetings here are the best example. They are urgent but sometimes not important and hence disrupt the workflow. Tasks here can be either delegated or completed quickly without draining much energy.
Not urgent and not important:
Distractions like social media or TV are the best examples. They are neither necessary nor urgent while working. Well, let’s cancel it then!
This theory is an ideal way of rebalancing the entire workflow. Managers practicing these hacks and techniques will never lose out on an efficient team.
Disconnect Is Required
At present, not all employees work according to a 9 to 5 schedule. Employees often work late at night because many offices extend the working hours unnecessarily. After exhausting their minds during the day, workers rush towards the office the following day. All this hampers productivity and can lead to frequent burnout. Burnouts lead to an increase in absenteeism as later the workforce starts taking more time off. This is an endless cycle. The majority of employees are likely to work all their lives, and with this schedule, they become exhausted. Slowly, lethargic behavior spreads throughout the organization. In this case, a manager should solve the problem. While working from home or at the workplace, managers need to draw timing bars or restrictions. Timely reporting and day-end logouts of employees should be specified.
Week-off is the time for the entire workforce to unwind and de-stress. So, office interruptions should be zero here. No team that works round the clock will remain energized forever. These simple steps help managers and their teams to regain productivity.
Working as a manager is no walk in the park. The productivity of managers is often affected as well. The reasons behind inadequate productivity are beyond our control. But as a team, we can strive to improve them. Then, start by trying these hacks.
When experts say ‘don’t be busy, be productive,’ they make complete sense. Work smarter, not harder!
Cloverbites By Rupesh Sanghavi 
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