Working in a team? Great! But how do you avoid clashing with your colleagues and still retain your efficiency? If you’re like most people, you probably work best in smaller groups. Working remotely often means you’ll be spending more time with people you trust, which can be great for team building but can also mean you’re spending less time on important tasks. To stay on top of your game and avoid productivity-killing distractions, you can take a few simple steps to improve your team’s efficiency.Sometimes, you just need to be alone to think things through and come up with the best solution. That’s why we
Make everyone on your team more productive
Productivity is a state of being; it’s not just about what you do, but how you do it. Making time for your team members to do their best work will help create a more efficient and productive environment. Not only will your team be more productive, but you’ll have more time to spend on the things you love, such as your hobbies or side projects.
Plan your meetings ahead of time
If you have a complex project that needs planning, set up a meeting with your team to go over the details. This way, everyone on the team can be on the same page and have a chance to voice their thoughts and concerns. If you’re short on time, you can also use meetings to take action items or sprints. If you need to keep your meetings short, you can also use the meetings to go over task lists.
Set aside time for email
While it’s important to stay on top of your tasks, it’s also necessary to set aside time to write. Email correspondence is a quick and easy way to get your point across, but it can also be a massive distraction. To ensure your email account isn’t taking up too much of your time, consider setting up an app like Evernote or OneNote to categorize emails and reminders so they make more sense. Email is also a perfect tool to follow up on meetings or tasks.
Turn off the internet for meetings
If you have to host a meeting or hold a Google Hangout, turn off the internet for the duration of the meeting. If you’re in a remote location, this may mean turning off your internet connection for a few hours.
Make using Slack a regular part of your workday
This way, you won’t be interrupting anyone’s work by bringing in food, and it gives the meeting the feel of a real-world work environment. While it’s a good idea to bring food to meetings, you can also set up a snack drawer or table with pre-made snacks to make your office or team room more appetizing.
Create a distraction-free environment
If you’re micromanaging your team’s environment to the point where it interferes with productivity, you’re probably not helping anyone. It might be doing the opposite: keeping you from thinking clearly and efficiently. If you want to be more productive, you need to let go of the reins and let your team members do their jobs. You can’t think and react to every situation at the same time, so if you try, you might miss vital information because you were too busy looking in two different places at the same time.
Distraction-free zones
There are a few things you can do to create a more distraction-free office or team space. First, you can put away any devices that are not directly related to your tasks at hand. Second, you can place clear, visible boards around the office or team space with the following information: Name of the person doing the work, location (desk, table, etc.), times, subjects they handle, and any other relevant details. If you’re looking for a quick way to stop distractions, you can also try using a whiteboard.
Games
When you’re trying to focus on one task at a time, it’s easy to get consumed by everything else. Whether it’s email, your phone, or something else, it’s easy to get so involved in your work that you lose sight of the bigger picture. To prevent this from happening, you can create a game to keep you from getting too bogged down in one task at a time. You can also play games that let you practice seeing the big picture, like Rolleiflex, where you take a picture of three items and try to identify what they are.
Turn off the email
meta-task: Turn off email while you work. This can help you stay focused on what matters, while still keeping your inbox from drowning you. You can also create a system where you first clear your inbox and then turn off the email while you work. If you find yourself constantly sending emails while you work, you may want to consider turning off the email feature on your email account. This will help you focus on what you need to get done, while still staying in control of your email usage.
Take a slow-paced shower
meta-task: Take a slow-paced shower while you work. Just like with email, taking a shower when you’re not busy will help you stay focused and avoid getting overwhelmed. With showers being so low-key and relaxing, it’s easy to forget about the anxiety and stress you’re causing yourself by not taking care of yourself. You can also try pairing showers with games, like Scrabble or Go Fish, where you can relax while getting your word count while still contributing to the team.
Find a way to be more effective
When you’re trying to improve your productivity, it’s important to find a way to be more effective in your tasks. Sometimes, that means picking a task that doesn’t require as much productivity and focusing on it instead. For example, you might want to focus on your speaking voice while recording your podcasts or want to play a listening contest while transcribing your work. You can also try looking for ways to be more effective by pairing tasks that are low-intensity and don’t require a lot of brainpower, such as taking a shower or getting some groceries.
A/B testing
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and have a tendency to make mistakes, it’s A/B testing that you can do to find out what affects the outcome. You can then test the errors and see if there is a difference in the resulting article.
Conclusion
Productivity is a complicated issue that affects everyone, even those working from home or remote locations. This way, the person will be more focused on the task at hand and won’t be affected by other distractions. If the best way to solve a problem is to try a few different approaches and see which one works best for you, then, by all means, use them! Sometimes, you just need to be alone to think things through and come up with the best solution.