Your employees’ productivity can make or break the success of your organization, so it is important to focus on team building events and team building activities to increase productivity in the workplace. While team building events are an excellent way to increase employee productivity, there are several other strategies that you can use in conjunction with these events.
Because productivity is so important for an organization, it is a commonly-written topic for business articles. This article references the following articles: How to Manage (and Motivate) Unproductive Employees , 3 Ways to Spark Employee Passion , If You’re Allowed to Quit, You’ll Work Even Harder , and HR 101: Getting Rid of People Who Suck Life Out of the Organization .
Employee productivity is essential for company success, so it is important for organizations to focus on team building events, as well as these other tips, to increase productivity in the workplace.
Hold your team members accountable. According to the article How to Manage (and Motivate) Unproductive Employees , being friendly with your team members is important. However, if you have unproductive employees, they may take advantage of your kindness and take the opportunity to slack off. The article offers many helpful tips on dealing with these employees, including avoiding being hostile and offering praise too soon. While being hostile and reprimanding your unproductive employees often may seem productive on your part, it will actually undermine your authority with your other employees. Instead, the article suggests that you outline the changes that need to be made, and hold those employees accountable. After changes are made, do not offer your praise too soon, as this can cause your unproductive employees to relax and fall back into their old habits.
Show your appreciation for your productive employees. As an effective leader, you will not only need to deal with unproductive employees, you will also need to keep your productive employees passionate about their tasks and roles. The article 3 Ways to Spark Employee Passion offers helpful tips to keep your productive employees happy in their roles. In order to do this, employees need to understand how their work and tasks connect to the bigger picture and the long-term goals of the organization. By connecting these employees to the bigger picture, they will be more productive and passionate about what they are doing. It is also important for leaders to offer praise and show their appreciation for their team members, as employees work harder when they feel that their work is valued.
Give your employees the option of opting out of certain tasks. According to the article If You’re Allowed to Quit, You’ll Work Even Harder , employees who are given the opportunity to quit or opt out of a task are actually more productive and work harder on their projects. The article references a recent study by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgia State University that gave participants the option to pass on the assigned task. The study found that the participants who chose to work on it spent more time and performed better.
Identify those team members that do not play well with others. Lastly, productivity is linked to the entire group’s dynamic, so if you have individuals who work well on their own but hurt the team’s success, they are draining the success from your organization, according to HR 101: Getting Rid of People Who Suck Life Out of the Organization . The team’s dynamic is an important indicator of success for your organization, so identifying ineffective employees should be top priority. Team building events and activities are a great way to identify these individuals — even before your hire them. Also hiring a professional consultant to help you is equally important because qualified consultants are trained to identify personality traits among your team members.
Employee productivity is likely the most important indicator for your organization’s success, so it is essential that leaders utilize team building events, as well as these other tips, to increase productivity within the organization.
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About TIGERS Success Series
TIGERS Success Series is an Oregon Team Building Consultant that has helped leaders build high performance teams and collaborative work communities for over 20 years. TIGERS offers team building certifications and licensing, team building events and award winning team development resources that build high performance teams.