Top ways to manage productivity

Getting stuff done faster and more efficiently tops just about any organization’s goal list. To improve results or performance, you have to manage strategically. But exactly how do you set teams, and yourself, up to achieve that success?

Here’s how to improve productivity through communication, app integration and time management techniques.

What is productivity, and why is it important in business?

Productivity is maximizing your time, energy and talent to get things done. The more efficiently a team works, the higher its productivity, which usually means higher profits.

Team culture plays a huge role in managing productivity. Whether your team is in the office together or working remotely, you can work more efficiently by:

• Using the right tools
• Establishing strategic communication channels
• Creating a positive workplace culture

How do you effectively manage productivity?

With so many workplaces going hybrid, collaboration tech is becoming indispensable. Channel-based messaging platforms like Slack make it easy to collaborate in real time, access information instantly and connect in innovative ways.

A study by Great Place to Work on remote-work productivity found that virtual workers are equally, if not more, productive than those in the office. It’s all about setting up the remote workplace to foster a culture of teamwork.

Break down communication barriers

Keep your employees engaged and productive with real-time communication. Channel-based platforms like Slack let you organize conversations by priorities, projects and more.

To prevent silos, leverage nonlinear capabilities like customizable notifications, file sharing, search, offline communications and instant-meeting launches from within an app. This allows anyone, regardless of location or time zone, to access what they need when they need it.

To push productivity further, use channels strategically:

• Use #announcements to update teams on key company news.
• Make internal content interesting. Use videos, gifs, slides and podcasts in your internal comms.
• Make it easy to find info fast with intuitive, searchable channels or use apps to answer FAQs.
• Encourage feedback with surveys and polls to make timely improvements.
  Give faster and more- frequent kudos.
• Use emoji for quick responses, approvals and reactions.

Share knowledge

Deliberate information sharing improves team performance. When you make it easy for people to find answers, they can quickly resolve their issues and move on with work.

Knowledge management is connecting people who have info with those who need it.

There are two types of knowledge to consider: explicit and tacit. Explicit knowledge is easy-to-share factual info like data, how-to guides and internal wikis. Tacit knowledge is what we learn through experimenting and doing things.

Tacit knowledge is harder to share, but here are some good ways:

• Regular one-on-ones with team members
• Holding office hours for your department
• Launching mentoring programs or hosting town hall meetings
• Thorough onboarding programs
• Collaboration tools and software

Unlock the tools your team needs

Hundreds of productivity apps integrate seamlessly into platforms like Slack. Whether you need to schedule a meeting with external partners, screen-share to solve problems in real time or give feedback in Google Sheets, integrating tools makes it easier to be productive.

If you’re unsure where to start, use this best-practices guide to manage app requests and permissions easily.

Improve time management

Learning how to optimize your time and make the best use of skill sets increases productivity, saving company time and money in the long run.

Boost overall team efficiency by setting up time management strategies entire teams can follow. Simple adjustments can deliver significant ROI. The Trafft scheduling solution reports that spending just 10 to 12 minutes planning your day can save you up to two hours that would otherwise be spent searching for files, deciding what to do and generally procrastinating.

Managing productivity couldn’t be easier

One 2018 Gallup poll reported that highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability. With less context switching, intuitive comms and access from anywhere, investing in collaboration platforms like Slack is an easy path to greater productivity.