12 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR TEAM AND INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

The success and failure of your business/organization/team depends on the quality of your Human Resources. All other factors that increase productivity and profit are driven by human resources. Businesses are run and driven by people and not machines. Happy and motivated staff/team attracts happy and loyal customers. Employees are like women, they are soft, tender and fragile; to keep them motivated and productive, you as a team leader/employer have to be creative in keeping them happy. You may be thinking, why should I spend so much resource in keeping them happy? Why not fire them and employ new ones and tell them what happened to the former ones. That will keep them on their feet. Hehehe….. very smart move, but then, you have succeeded in making yourself a tyrant and a mafia boss. What will be the outcome of such action? 

• Your staff will term you a tyrant and will work in constant fear 

• Your corporate image will have been tarnished 

• You will lose your market share to your competitor 

• You will face legal charges and be forced to pay a huge fine 

• You will experience a huge loss on your investment and low productivity 

• Also go through the hassle of recruiting and inducting new staff which will consume time and money. Do you still want to fire them? I guess not.

Your staff are your corporate family, treat them like one. Let’s explore some ways to keep them motivated and inspired to achieve organizational objectives. 

1. Leadership by example; this is still the best form of leadership. Team members want a leader who knows his onus and have the balls to get things done. People follow a general who is always at the forefront and not a rear admiral who fights from the background. 

2. Be transparent and Honest; Give them every necessary information about their jobs and the project. Give them a reason to follow you. It will be a disaster if they find out the hard way that you are hiding something they should know about. You will lose trust and credibility. 

3. Team bonding exercises; All work and no play makes your team ineffective. Introduce some games and exercises that will reduce stress, ease off tension, increase team connection and increase productivity. Create the atmosphere for them to enjoy work. No one wants to work with an acquaintance, so give them a chance to become friends. 

4. Give them a sense of belonging and ownership; listen to their ideas and implement them. Let them be in the implementation team. And if the idea really sucks, be constructive in putting it aside.
5. Reward/little incentive strategy; it may include giving them bragging rights if they perform well in a task, employee of the week/month/year awards, souvenirs, holiday trips etc. these activities will introduce healthy competition in the team 

6. Appreciate them openly and individually; openly let them know how important they are to the team commend their individual strengths and help them walk through their weaknesses. 

7. Support them in achieving tasks. 

8. Be a strategist; Always be steps ahead of your members. Have a plan A, B, C, D etc. and develop an emergency response system for situations that may arise. 

9. Improve budget; This will create a better working atmosphere and increase productivity. 

10. Hangouts and social visits; As often as possible, hangout with your team; watch movies, have game nights, beach hangouts etc. Also make out time to visit them in their homes. You’ll be amazed at the response you will get the following day or week. 

11. Manage change effectively; As often as it occurs, be an effective change manager and inform them when changes occurs. 

12. Be their coach/mentor/best friend; Be someone they can confide in when they get into trouble trying to finish their tasks. Guide them and show them what to do. You are their best trainer. 

 Your staff is the live wire of your organization; their happiness should be your priority if you must get returns on your investments. Use positive reinforcements