Productivity

Productivity!

Having a productive workforce is essential to any business, it is the difference between success and failure. Where is productivity on your list of priorities?

I enjoy watching football, when I was a younger it was all about the skills and success on the pitch, but as my career has evolved I focus a lot more on the managers. These guys are at the top of their professions and are great to look to when it comes to building a successful and productive team, without every member of the squad working together effectively, they will fail. It’s easy to see how that translates into business.

Are you proud of yourself?

I’ve come across a lot of managers/ business owners in my time, mighty proud of themselves for giving opportunities to all their staff. I’m pretty sure plenty of them felt like their staff should just ‘crack on’ and do what they have told them to do irrespective of whether they have the right tools for the job. Perfect approach… if you want to fail.

If we’re not enjoying what we’re doing, our brains will not produce Dopamine which ultimately means we’re unhappy, unmotivated and going through the motions. This is science talking so I suggest if you don’t already have the job satisfaction or progression goals of your people on the agenda then please, make the change before they do. They are not tree’s, they can and will move to one of your competitors and potentially take your customers with them. So hopefully we can now agree that if we can get the Dopamine levels flowing then we’re going to have a motivated, happy and productive team and if we do then that will mean not just more customers but happy customers, and customers that stay for years to come!

Dopamine isn’t easy to maintain, we must create an environment around our people that protects that positive mood, an environment of collaboration and one with a great work-life-balance.

Everything is your fault!

Too many businesses work in silo’s, they are the bogeymen of both small and large organisations. They kill productivity, halt innovation and destroy morale. Successful businesses with high employee satisfaction, focus on creating a culture of collaboration. They get everybody working towards a common goal, all tuned into the overall ambitions of the company and understanding the part they are playing in that, plus the rewards if they can achieve it together.

Silos can creep up on you as your business grows, you can easy spot them when you start hearing the likes of “that’s not my/ my teams’ responsibility” or “why should we do that for them, what do they do for us”

Humans are social animals and if you deny them the ability to collaborate then these silo’s will contribute to your demise, as the leader of the businesses it is down to you to create the culture by leading from the front. There is more science to support this, another chemical we release when we strengthen the working relationship with others, it’s called Oxytocin, this chemical protects the production of Dopamine. I mentioned earlier that you need to create an environment that protects that positive mood, you can now see how science supports that.

Work smarter, not harder!

As we get heavier workloads, most people’s first port of call is to ask their staff to work longer and work harder. We’ve all heard “hammer the phones” – “Why are you not on the phone?” – “The more you throw at the wall, the more that sticks” – “Have shorter lunch breaks” – “The nails aren’t going to hammer themselves in” etc. This is all kinds of wrong but evident in virtually every company I have ever worked for. Here’s a quick story that says it all:

A group of woodcutters were tasked with cutting trees in the forest. One of the woodcutters took the longest breaks but turned in the maximum logs, whereas those with the minimum breaks mysteriously produced fewer logs. A detailed investigation revealed the reason for this anomaly: the woodcutter with fewest work hours used the breaks to sharpen his axe: the resulting tool increased his productivity allowing him to achieve more with apparently less effort.

Most bosses we have all worked for would be calling him lazy during his break “trees aren’t going to chop themselves down”.

Look at this graphic, it shows how hours worked does not equal greater output and the impact that working your staff too hard can have. It shows that if we work long hours with no breaks, we get less done:

Summary:

Keep motivation, satisfaction and productivity high by promoting a healthy work-life-balance. Do this by creating an environment that allows your staff to get their work done as easily as possible, using the best tools. Treat every single person as an individual, understand what motivates them and why they work for your business. You can then help them progress their lives and in turn, they will help you to progress your business!

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me to discuss how we can help you in this area by either introducing communication solutions that fit around your staff and your business or even just to discuss this subject further.