How To Double Your Team’s Productivity

Probably the most overused expression in business is “time is money.” Everyone knows that, yet why is it so few organizations and individuals understand how to get the most out of their time. From CEOs all the way down, time is the one resource we all have in common and it’s how we use it that separates the winners from the rest of the pack. Brian Tracy, bestselling book of the most successful productivity book ever, Eat That Frog, put it this way, “Successful people use their time better than ‘normal’ people. They do things differently.” That sounds easy enough. With our unlimited access to information today, you’d think every organization would be able to maximize their teams’ time investment. Sadly, you’d be wrong.

Multi-million and even billion-dollar companies sometimes fail to invest in powerful software or introduce new and innovative ways to boost productivity. Unfortunately, most companies get stuck in their old ways. The question every organization should be asking is “Is it possible to double their team’s productivity?” The answer is “Of course.” There are always new and creative ways to improve productivity.

Here are five that may work for your organization.

Many companies are hesitant to adopt new technology. Sometimes it’s out of fear, other times it’s cost. If your company is data heavy and organization is an issue, one of the best solutions is the SAP program. In layman’s terms, the SAP System is an all-inclusive sales and business planning software. It’s not cheap, with a single professional license being $3213 (the limited version is $1666) or through subscription of $94 per user / per month. And this doesn’t include the 2-day training which adds another $500 to the price tag and just covers the basics. No doubt it’s an investment in both time and money but it’s a small price to pay for the increased productivity an organization receives. It allows businesses of all sizes to align their strategies and ensure all departments and facets of the company are on the same page.

Meetings

Meetings are one of the least understood mechanisms in a company. There is a big difference between an effective meeting and your average meeting which is anything but. Cameron Herold’s book, Meetings Suck, he discusses some ideas on how to get the most out of a meeting, but one thing he leaves out is not having a meeting at all. While important, most companies hold meetings out of routine rather than necessity. The one thing that slows down employees is attending meetings where little gets done or attending those which don’t require them to be there in the first place.

Podcasts

Information isn’t an issue today. Smartphones in our pockets take care of that. What is an issue is ensuring that our customers get the right information quickly and easily.  Podcasts are one of the most underused marketing tools there is. Podcast advertising in the US has steadily risen every year since 2010, and is predicted to reach $256 million in 2018 and for good reason as the podcast audience continues to grow according to an annual report from Edison Research and Triton Digial.  Podcasts are powerful because of their simplicity. They require few resources and easy to set up. However, most companies don’t understand how to use them effectively or realize their potential in getting their message out. It allows for easy distribution of new events, products, promotions and information about their company in an easy to digest form.

Personal Development/Wellness training

Companies with formalized training result in 218% higher income per employee according to the Association for Talent Development. Google, Apple, Applied Materials and many multi-national companies understand their success is linked directly to the strength of their team. That’s why they are not only constantly working on attracting the best talent, but also ways to increase their current teams’ ability through trainings and workshops. Companies, both big and small, overlook the cost-effectiveness of training programs. Wellness and personal development in particular are especially effective in increasing productivity and sales while reducing stress and attrition.

Effective Website 

A website is the unsung hero of an organization. Done right, it saves your team a whole lot of time and energy in building up your customer base as well as dealing with customers directly. Websites today can cost anywhere from as little as $100 to set up to as much as $50,000 or more, depending on the systems behind them. Despite incredible tools available, it’s amazing to see just how many companies have over-complicated, heavy, messy, ineffective sites. With only a few seconds to make an impact, many companies are losing potential sales the minute people open their sites. In designing your site, you might want to keep these principles in mind. But to take things to the next level and make it effective, here are five things you’ll want to experiment with.

• Email capture
• Strong lead-in magnet
• Opt-in boxes
• Social media links
•  An “About Page” that tells your company’s / product’s story

An organization’s productivity inevitably relies on the strength of its team. The stronger the team the more productive it can be. However, having certain tools available to its members can enhance its productivity.

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