In the workplace, efficiency is all about maximizing productivity. It’s about minimizing the waste of time and capitalizing on tools and technologies to overdeliver and outperform. It’s wisely using whatever resources you have — whether that is your employee’s time or your team’s budget. 

A common dilemma for leaders is trying to squeeze the most out of their team without burning them out. After a certain point, a team that is exhausted and starting to feel fatigued will become distressed. Even if they believe in the company and the mission, they may quit because they reach their breaking point. 

But efficiency doesn’t mean your team must always be exhausted. With a few practices and principles in place, your team can be efficient, successful, and happy. Here are three ways to boost your team’s efficiency that you may begin implementing today. 

1. Eliminate Redundant Work

With only so many hours each day, you want each team member to work on projects that move the needle. While doubling up on tasks is not the goal, it can happen all too easily. A teammate sees a problem and starts working on it without communicating to anyone else that they are handling it. Not only does this slow down a team’s productivity, but it might also damage trust and lessen morale. If two colleagues discover they’ve both been working on the same project, they may both feel unmotivated and discouraged. 

To avoid this situation, you want everyone on your team to know exactly what others are working on. Posting assigned projects on a project management software platform can ensure that everyone is aware of others’ tasks. During team meetings, have each employee talk about their progress on a task and share their insights. Both of these solutions are advantageous in eliminating redundant work. 

Eradicating redundancy may also require restructuring how you accomplish specific tasks, such as creating content. If your editorial team is currently siloed and writing about keywords they find interesting, your content will likely be repetitive. However, using tools and strategies such as content clusters to rework how the team creates content can help eliminate unnecessary redundancy. Your site’s content will also significantly improve as you update older articles that no longer serve your audiences.  

2. Only Meet When Necessary

The average person spends about 37% of their time at work either in meetings or coordinating them. While some meetings are necessary, such as client pitches or one-on-ones with managers, others may be a waste of time. It’s essential to distinguish the imperative meetings from the redundant ones and adjust the team’s calendar accordingly. 

Look at your digital calendar at the beginning of the week and evaluate which team meetings are absolutely necessary. For instance, if a deadline is approaching, working on that project may be more valuable than updates on site traffic. Communicate with the team early about whether they must attend a meeting or if they can skip it entirely. While a last-minute cancellation might be helpful, it’s also likely to cause frustration. Many of your employees may have already worked overtime to compensate for being unable to work during the meeting. 

For essential meetings, ensure there is a purpose and a planned agenda. Set the agenda well ahead of the meeting and share it with everyone before the meeting’s start time. Doing this will allow everyone to come prepared and ready to participate. When creating the agenda, you may find that the information you need to share is better communicated via email. If this is the case, alert invited participants ASAP and follow up as appropriate with the news. 

3. Assess Your Team’s Workload Frequently 

Have you ever felt like there was just too much on your plate? Perhaps a client pushed a meeting to this week when you already had a filled calendar and running to-do list. The last-minute change may have caused you to work overtime and likely left you feeling a bit disgruntled. Nobody enjoys this feeling, and most people try to avoid these situations at all costs. However, instances of work overload reinforce why managers should frequently assess their team’s workload. 

It’s important to note that working more is not synonymous with working harder. Studies have shown that working more than 50 to 55 hours per week significantly decreases productivity. Overworked employees and the rise of “burnout culture” are even more reason for leaders to address this situation. 

When assessing your team’s workload, checking in with individual team members first is essential. In a team setting, an employee may not want to raise their hand and ask for help. However, in a one-on-one meeting, they might quickly see that they have too much to handle sufficiently. You can also leverage a tool to track work, such as a workload or project management platform. It’s beneficial to assess your entire team’s workload before assigning or delegating work to another teammate. 

Conclusion 

Efficiency doesn’t have to equal extra work or even extra workforce. You can see great results by making the suggested tweaks to your team’s processes and workloads. And you’ll proudly represent a team that is enthusiastic about their work and meeting deadlines with ease. 

Published by: Annie P.