FAQ Friday - I want to help my team be more productive - what can I do?
One Friday each month I dedicate the post to looking at some questions I have heard recently from developing leaders. Sharing those questions and my thoughts for them is a way for me to spread the information to as many leaders and future leaders as possible. If you have a question about leadership or just a situation you would like some additional insight on, please email me at Effective Retail Leader. Let’s take a look at this week’s question.
I want to help my team be more productive - what can I do?
This seemed like the perfect question to answer for Productivity Month. I have asked myself this many times while leading teams over the past 25 plus years. From the first time I became a Store Leader, I wanted everyone on my team to be fulfilled in what they were doing and how they were doing it.As you grow in your career, serving your team so they can find new levels of success becomes more relevant. Helping others being more productive doesn’t always require it to be in the context of getting more done. Much as we have covered in other articles this month, productivity is about getting the right things done in the best way possible.With that in mind, here are several things you can do to help your team become as productive as possible. Regardless of whether you are leading a store team, a district team, or more - you can make a difference in how others get their work done.
Cover what’s in it for them
Paint a picture of what better planning, organization, and productivity would look like for them. This could be less stress, more getting done faster, a more engaged team that wants to learn more. When you can show your team the benefits of working smarter and thinking differently, you can create some early momentum in their change curve. Changing one’s current habits is challenging for everyone - seeing the potential outcomes can be the trigger that gets them moving in the right, new, direction.
Have a meeting on productivity
Meetings themselves are sometimes the worst productivity mechanisms possible. When these sessions are well thought out, defined in purpose, and are concise in nature, they can be powerful tools to share ideas. Start by sharing your best ideas on what makes you productive. Frame this as just a set of ideas; you don’t want people to think they need to do what you do. Then, begin a round-table discussion on what others do to help them be productive. If anyone cannot think of any ideas - ask them to share their thoughts on what others are doing and how it might work for them. Get everyone involved - no bad ideas, just good sharing, and building new options.
Ask how they are spending their time
Time Tracking can be useful for anyone. In order to improve your time management and ultimately your productivity levels, everyone needs to understand how they are currently spending their time. In a previous article, I explored the concept of time tracking to find lost minutes to help get more done. Tracking time does not need to be difficult or something you always do, but having a starting point is the first step in finding the lost minutes and hours in your day.
Show your team how to use those free moments to get the little things done
Once your team has a good idea of where their time is being spent, show them how they can fit those small projects or tasks into the moments in-between. This might be a good place to complete a hands-on exercise on how to build and maintain a list of quick projects that can be done in 5 or 10 minutes. This can be a helpful way to demonstrate to the team that you can get many things done in small amounts of time.
Practice a planning session with the team
Planning is the key to using time productivity. Build a team session on what planning looks likes. Ask -do you know what you need to get done? Discuss - what starting with that end in mind means - do they have a clear picture of what the finish line looks like. Then review with the team the time needs and steps it will take to accomplish that. Planning is what makes productive ‘doing’ possible. Even if things change slightly, having a good starting point will ensure you get moving in the right direction. Showing the team what this looks like and leading them through the exercise will be an excellent way to let them practice planning. In some cases, this may be the first time some of your team members have really, purposefully planned for their time ahead.
What three things do you want to get done today?
Building on the previous exercise you can get more specific on how planning can be as simple as listing out the three things you want to get done today. I recommend you show your team how to do this the day prior. Listing out tomorrow’s starting point will ensure you are already a step ahead of the next day. When you start your day, you already know what you need to get done and where to start.
Do the biggest project first
Finally, to help your team get the most important projects done - recommend they tackle the ‘big rocks’ first. Usually, we have the most energy and enthusiasm to get work done early in the day. When we take on the biggest, most challenging task first, we are at our freshest and can get that out of the way. The positive energy in knowing that the big task is completed can propel you into the next couple of smaller projects.Productivity is a personal thing. Let everyone choose and use their own tools. What you can offer is new ideas and ways they can use them in your environment. Present your thoughts and create a forum for others to do the same will enable and empower your team to become their most productive self.Join other retail leaders in continuing their development journey with Effective Retail Leader.com. SUBSCRIBE today to receive FREE leadership tips directly to your inbox and monthly newsletters that provide many tools to help further develop your leadership skills all at no cost. JOIN NOW!No spam ever - just leadership goodness.