Are you and your team working exhaustively but still being faced by many seemingly unnecessary obstacles? It is common to experience workplace hiccups like miscommunication, late turn ins and performance issues, but how are you battling this? In the pursuit for better work productivity, whether it be managing a company, a team or a project, one major key to success we have all heard of is self assessment. Slowing down, analysing and then brainstorming solutions are all crucial components that need to be of top priority for your business. You and your team might be hitting a wall because you are working too hard, and luckily enough, the philosophy of working smarter instead of working harder is one that is fairly simple to adopt.

The effect of a combined effort is greater than that of individual performances. Teamwork facilitates exposure to different perspectives and encourages communication and collaboration. Great teamwork will create a space for innovative dialogue and great leadership will create ways to sustain it. Micromanaging isn?t always necessary nor is it efficient. Lead by example once and trust your team to keep the momentum. If a productive team is one that is working toward the same goals, questions like ?where are we going and how will we get there?? or ?what does success look like?? are essential for success. The measure of this success is very different to every team, and with every individual boasting their own strengths and weaknesses, it is imperative to get everyone on the same page. In the absence of that common end goal, people will have to make up their own ways to measure their success, resulting in a plethora of avoidable issues. Think conflict prevention and not resolution.

Fostering productivity is vital in any high functioning team. If you can identify all inefficiencies, then you can begin finding resources, tools and solutions to eliminate them. You and your team must be equipped with the correct tools needed to organise, schedule and execute projects and business activity. Use technology to your advantage and eliminate all tasks that can be done for you by productivity softwares. Erase paper trails and keep your whole team updated on work progress at all times by streamlining the activity that goes on within the workplace. If all tasks, roles and processes are laid out clearly, the path to success will be clear for you and your team. Not only will you be cutting down assigned tasks but by doing this it would be easier to eliminate all potential inefficiencies as they come along. It only makes sense to take help from the myriad of productivity tools available on the market. Try out communication platforms, room booking systems and centralised scoring boards and find the one that best fits your team.

The beauty of teamwork comes out in a thriving and optimistic environment. One where social and emotional skills are important too because they sustain positive relationships in the workplace. One where each member understands the importance of their role in the team?s success. One where challenges are welcomed as paths to better strategies. One where working faster and smarter is more valuable than working harder.