10 Ways to Make Your Team More Productive

To PRODUCE – YOU must Accomplish! To ACCOMPLISH – YOU must PRODUCE to make your team more productive!

make your team more productiveWant to make your team more productive?

Think about it! From the day you were born….YOU were part of a team, a group of people who come together to reach a common goal. Your goal was to lead a productive life. Remember, your first support team could have consisted of YOU, your Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister, etc. First, you needed them to accomplish the basic functions of life, namely walking, talking, and more. Consequently, you unknowingly relied on them to accomplish your goal in life.

Make Your Team More Productive

Each day you strive to be productive. To accomplish today’s goal, you must produce the tools necessary to achieve it. Today, YOU are the team leader. YOU set the goals. Next, YOU are solely responsible for YOUR success. Finally, YOU are THE Business Project Manager and Productivity Team Leader.

What do you do now? Go back to basics. Go back to your roots. Take one step at a time. Everything is a process. Remember you had to crawl before you could walk. You get the point. Likewise, keep in mind your struggles, frustrations, your wins, your losses. Furthermore, think about how you liked to be rewarded.

Put yourself in your team’s shoes. Your goal is to motivate your team to help them achieve their highest productivity potential. How do you accomplish this? Fortunately, we have a tool for that.

Give Your Team The Right Tools To Make Your Team More Productive

Suppose…you ask your team to dig a foundation? Do you give them a spoon, a shovel, or a backhoe? They will all get the job done. They will all accomplish the task. But which tool is most productive?

Which tool will motivate them? Your business project may not be this extensive. However, the problems, solutions, and pitfalls remain the same, despite the size of your task at hand. How do you choose the right tools for the right job to achieve the best results? Fortunately, we have a tool for that job too.

Below, you will find an infographic with 4 slides that outline 10 Ways to Make Your Team More Productive. It is brought to you by Wrike, a free project-tracking tool! It offers great tips for those like you, who lead others and are growing their small businesses.
Let’s analyze each inspiring tool that leads to Team Productivity making your team more productive!

Prioritize To Make Your Team Really Productive

You are planning a vacation. Therefore, you will need to know where, when, why, and how to get there. Finally, you need to schedule your itinerary and prioritize what’s most important to you. Likewise, your team needs a plan, vision, and direction! They need to know where the project is going.

Most importantly, they need to know what to prioritize. They need constant communication from you on where to focus their energies. Hence, they need to know your immediate expectations. Otherwise, they lose focus, purpose, motivation, and accomplishment.

Likewise, your team needs a plan, vision, and direction! They need to know where the project is going. #productiveteam Click To Tweet

Small Steps Show Progress, Progress Motivates

This project is YOUR baby. YOU are the teacher. You need to teach the team to crawl before they can walk. Sound familiar? You have the vision to see the end result of your project. But it’s not so clear to your team.

Therefore, you need to feed them small pieces at a time by breaking the project down into segments. They need to realize their small victories along the way. This gives them a feeling of accomplishment. Crossing something off the to-do list is a powerful motivator.

Appreciation – The Strongest Motivator To make Your Team More Productive

great jobGive yourself a pat on the back! Kudos to you! You are an amazing project manager! Great job! Your efforts are extremely appreciated. Did you like these motivational accolades? Are you anxious to forge forward? That’s how your team will feel. They need constant re-enforcement in knowing someone is noticing a job well done.

They need constant constructive feedback. The strongest motivator is appreciation. It cost nothing. The return on your investment is priceless! By showing appreciation to your team, you encourage eagerness to please, motivation to succeed, and a sense of responsibility to achieve and be productive. Simply telling them, “Thank you for coming into work today” can set the tone for a successful day of accomplishment.

Let Your Team FLY! Key To Making Your Team More Productive

If your style is to delegate, then delegate! Don’t micro-manage! It obstructs motivation! You can’t be everything to everyone. It takes teamwork. You selected your team to accomplish a goal. You chose them because you trusted them to do the job.

Let them fly! They need a feeling of accomplishment. They need to believe they did it themselves. Remember how accomplished you felt, the first time you finished a puzzle all by yourself.

Stuck In The Mud?

Things happen. Things don’t always go the way you envisioned. Your team is Stuck. Can’t move forward. Obstacles deny them passage. No place to move. They look to you for help, insight, and direction. Remember, you are not alone. You have a team. The team needs your motivation, not your criticism. Don’t procrastinate. Act now.

Call the team together and LISTEN. Next, let them vent. Then lead them into brainstorming, sharing their ideas and tips. It will inspire solutions. Form a workshop. Include a fun-like element. Finally, listen to their feedback. They are taking ownership of your small business project and making it their own.

This produces energy, motivation, appreciation, and accomplishment. A winning combination.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Bet you’ve heard that more times than you can count. You do realize it works, right? Why not take it to the next level? Include it in your business project. It’s a proven fact: A beautiful picture moves you, inspires you, and motivates you. So use it.

Post pictures, posters, or post-it notes of the project, at all stages of development, around the work area. It reinforces the team’s feeling of accomplishment. Having pictures around will make your team more productive than without them.

It’s a proven fact: A beautiful picture moves you, inspires you, motivates you. So use it. #inspire Click To Tweet

Honey, I Had A Bad Night

Which is it? Happy face or Sad face? You are the motivator as well as the positive force that leads to productivity. You, as the project manager, create the tone for the day, good or bad, the moment you step foot in the office. Your team can sense your attitude. Always show your good mood face.

Your team does not expect to hear about the bad night you had last night. Don’t bring your bad mood to work. Keep your mood in check. Sometimes it’s difficult. My husband would call me at work every day to see how my day was going.

The moment I said Hello, he was the only one who knew if I was having a good or a bad day. I tried to hide it, but he could see through me. He’s special that way!

Let Your Hair Down

Your team is a group of people who come together to reach a common goal. Get to know your team. Let them get to know each other. Inspire them to like each other. Get them to have fun together. Provide a festive atmosphere where they can let their hair down, de-stress, be themselves, relax and most of all HAVE FUN!

Create a Fun Shop. Organize an outing related to your project theme. Then, add some interactive fun time and lighten the mood. This will really make your team more prolific!

Use All The Right Tools Available To You

A tool is a device that carries out a particular function. The tools of your trade are some of your most valuable assets. The internet is a perfect tool for you.

Look for specific resources that point directly to your business projects. You will realize success more efficiently by utilizing a Business Project Management software geared specifically suited to your needs.

Finally, there is Small Business Project Management software that is available. Do not overlook the other valuable tool seen below, Wrike, the award-winning collaboration and project management software geared to inspire you to succeed and reach your goal.

Visit Wrike.com today and be inspired to produce to accomplish your goal. Wrike will help you to make your team more productive today!

Infographic brought to you by Wrike small business project management software

10 Ways to Make Your Team More Productive

So, do you feel inspired, motivated, and productive? Are you making your team more productive? I’d like to know. I care. Please comment.

  • Hi Lisa,

    What wonderful ways to make your team more productive. One cannot sit around and complain that things are moving slowly or not at all. As a leader, we do have to give others all the tools we can supply.
    I like the part whereby having a bad day would project to the team. Such a no no! We have to be positive, genuinely enjoy what we are doing in the first place, and deal with the team as our “students” so to speak. When we have this outlook, some of our enthusiasm is going to rub off on others.

    -Donna

    • Lisa says:

      Hi Donna, nice to see you 🙂 Yes, we cannot complain, that’s such a wasted action. Yes, keep it positive all the time if you can. If not, turn it into a positive. I used to have clients in the past that would complain about stuff but they ended up being my best clients because I turned it into a positive and was better able to serve them. Thanks for coming by Donna and I hope things are going well in Maine. We need a get together soon! I sent you a FB message yesterday 🙂

  • Amanda Ricks says:

    Great post, Lisa. I feel inspired already! But you’re so right, motivation starts at the top and trickles down. We have to always keeps our teams, as well as our own motivation in mind.
    Have a great day. ?

    • Lisa says:

      Thank you Amanda 🙂 I’m so glad you feel inspired. I so agree, it does start at the top and trickles downward. (Good or bad motivation too!) Thanks for coming Amanda and I hope you have a great Thursday ahead.

  • Bhawna says:

    Hey Lisa,

    Really interesting read and also loved your infographic.I have shared it on pinterest.
    Sometimes you have to make hard decision and sometimes you have to be little harsh but productivity is most important thing.
    Accomplishing the task is the best feeling when you are managing a team

    Keep up the good work

    • Lisa says:

      Hi Bhawna, welcome to Inspire to Thrive. Thank you, I love the info-graphics from Wrike, they do a great job! I love being able to check things off once accomplished. It’s a great feeling. Thanks for coming by and taking the time to comment. I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and that we see you here again.

  • Moss Clement says:

    Hi Lisa, you have done pretty well in this post, as usual. I agree with your points, as well as I agree with Sajid that people have different levels of understanding. Do you believe that? Sure you do. It means that what you see as a great productivity strategy for your team, Mr B might think otherwise about it because he is not at the moment seeing it from your point of view. In all said and done, you need patience to be able to create a more productive team.

    Thanks for sharing, Lisa.

    NB: I just downloaded the infographic for posting on social media. Good job!

    • Lisa says:

      Hi Moss, thank you for that. Yes, people come from different backgrounds and some learn quicker than others too. Patience is a virtue! Thanks for coming by and sharing. Have a wonderful weekend.

  • You’ve an amazing piece here, Lisa.

    For me, the success of a team begins with the selection.

    For me, when getting people into my team, I go for people who are as passionate as I am about the project.

    Such people are more likely to be productive than people who were coerced into it. First, they will need little or no supervision at all.

    However, doesn’t take away the place of having a productive and forward-thinking team leader with awesome interpersonal skills.

    Thanks for sharing. I got value for my time.

    Emenike

    • Lisa says:

      Thanks Emenike, passion is key to success. You can accomplish so much more with enthusiasm.?
      I’m so glad you found value in this one. Have a great day!!

  • Sajid Akhter says:

    Hi Lisa,

    You have discussed some valuable points here in this post. It is very important to evaluate potential of each of your staff members and assigned work accordingly. You need to show patience and show them the way. Different people have different levels of understanding. man management plays a key role here.

    Thank you for sharing this post. have a good day. 🙂

    • Lisa says:

      Hi Sajid, thank you. Showing patience can be hard some times but it’s a must if you want the team and group to succeed. They say patience is a virtue 🙂 You are most welcome and you have a nice day as well.

  • Cori Ramos says:

    These are great tips Lisa! Showing our team how much we appreciate them for the work they do goes a long way. Having the right tools is also important – I think it brings out their creativity when it’s a tool they like to use.

    And I like the idea of having pictures of the development stages but since my VAs work at home, I’d have to think about how to incorpate that in a virutal setting.

    Thanks for sharing these suggestions with us!

    Have a great week. 🙂

    Cori

    • Lisa says:

      Thank you Cori. I agree, people love to be appreciated and when they are; they will do more. Having the right tools is a must today with so everything going so fast. It really helps with the productivity levels.
      I think you will be able to work that in with the virtual VA’s 🙂
      You are most welcome and I hope your week is going well there Cori.

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