How to create a friendly atmosphere in the team and increase productivity: 10 tips from experts

Competition in the markets is growing, and the most important way to succeed is to increase labor productivity. As a result, everything rests on the productivity of employees and methods of increasing it. This was reported by SSPDaily.

Entrepreneur writes: "A productive employee is the key to a company's success and a potential opportunity to exceed the expected result." Here are 10 tips for employers on how to increase employee productivity and how to start working with them.

Streamline the hiring process

The days when people worked exclusively for one company are over. And while 70% of Generation Z employees consider themselves loyal to their employers, they usually don't mind taking on a second job or occasional part-time work.

Tip: To maximize employee attachment, do everything you can to make them part of the company's culture.

Effective solutions in this area can increase the retention rate of new employees by up to 82%. This will be a great result of your HR policy.

Here's how to simplify the onboarding process:

• Start with preliminary training. In the period leading up to the first day of work, it is crucial to get new employees involved in the workflow and build relationships. Therefore, it's a good idea to send them welcome letters, introduce them to the company's corporate culture, and tell them about its core values.

• Create a structured onboarding plan. All new employees should receive the same information and experience, regardless of their role. Appropriate timelines and resource lists will help them do this.
• Automate the process as much as possible. In the process of onboarding employees, you have to solve many tasks - paperwork, training, setting up IT systems. Automating the process will save time and resources for other issues.

• Use technology. Optimize the hiring process with software solutions that manage document flow, track progress, and provide training materials.
• Get the most out of the process and maximize teamwork from everyone involved. To do this, you'll need the support of department heads, HR, IT, and coaches.
• Measure and improve. To improve the onboarding process, you need to measure its effectiveness. The best way to do this is to conduct regular interviews and surveys on general and specific issues.

Be clear about your goals and instructions

To do their jobs well, employees need to know their jobs, responsibilities, and expectations.

For this purpose, use job descriptions that clearly define employee responsibilities. You can also set performance standards and goals so that everyone in the team understands what to strive for.

Ensure work-life balance

In any healthy work environment, work-life balance still plays a key role, despite the fact that this word has become a household name.

The reason: According to HR policy experts, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is the key to creating a healthy work environment. In addition, this approach reduces overall stress and helps prevent burnout at work.

Employees exposed to chronic stress at work can suffer from digestive problems, chronic pain, and heart problems. In addition, stress can affect mental health, causing anxiety, insomnia, and depression.

Emotional burnout is not only a problem for employees. For example, American companies spend between $125 and $190 billion a year on treating people for the psychological and physical effects of hard work.

Is there a way to fight burnout at work and improve work-life balance? These tips will help you solve the problem:

• Offer flexible work options. For example, employees can work remotely for a few days or four days a week.

• The priority should not be their presence at the workplace, but rather their productivity and the progress of the project.
• Encourage team members to take breaks and vacations.
• Allow employees to disconnect from work and do not disturb them when they are taking a break from work.
• Regularly assess employee workload and ask how they are feeling.
• Consider giving your staff additional time off to rest.

Remember, if your employees are happier and less stressed, it will increase their productivity.

Encourage risk-taking

To foster a culture of innovation and productivity growth, it's important not to be afraid to take risks. Encouraging this approach makes people more inclined to think creatively and look for new opportunities. As a result, the company quickly adapts to changing conditions and remains competitive.

However, encouraging employees to take risks is not an easy task. To motivate your staff in this regard, do the following:

• Create a supportive and relaxed environment. Employees who feel safe are more likely to take risks that are treated as experiments.
• Recognize and reward employees' decisions, even if those efforts don't always pay off.
• Provide training and development opportunities. To do their jobs effectively, staff must have the necessary skills and knowledge.

Take feedback seriously

Often, companies make decisions that employees cannot influence after the fact and feel unnecessary. As a result, they lose motivation and experience a psychological collective negative.

To minimize such situations, listen to people's opinions and take an interest in their point of view. In addition, make sure that employees are involved in decision-making as much as possible, especially if these decisions affect their interests.

These steps will demonstrate to your staff that you value their input and ideas.

Put an end to micromanagement

Most managers are under the misconception that micromanaging is the best way to increase productivity.

There is some truth in this, but excessive control has the opposite effect. In other words, for employees to feel fulfilled, the employer must trust them. One way to achieve this is to give them full control over their tasks.

It has been proven that people's productivity depends on having a certain amount of freedom of action and autonomy. As a result, they become more involved in the process and more efficient.

Set realistic deadlines

If you want your employees to complete a project by a deadline, make sure they understand

• when you want the result to be ready;
• how you define progress and success of the project;
• what steps need to be taken to achieve the goal.

In other words, every employee goal should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely).

Optimize meetings

Meetings are not just annoying. They are the biggest productivity killer. In a survey of 2,800 people, 83% reported spending between four and twelve hours in meetings each week.

Since meetings are an inevitable evil, what can you do?

It's simple. Get the most out of it by following these steps:

First, ask yourself if you really need a meeting or if you can get by with an email, Slack message, or phone call.

Next:

• Set a clear purpose and agenda for the meeting. What do you hope to accomplish by the end of the meeting? What topics will be discussed?
• Send out the agenda in advance. This will allow everyone to come prepared and actively participate.

• Start and end the meeting on time. Time is valuable to everyone, so respect it.
• Meetings should not drag on. A scheduled meeting should last about 30 minutes.
• Encourage everyone. One or two people should not dominate the conversation.
• Avoid distractions. Find a quiet place for the meeting, turn off phones and laptops.
• At the end of the meeting, summarize the main points and next steps. This will help everyone stay on the same page.

After the meeting, summarize the main points and next steps in an email or memo.

Create a positive work environment

Creating a friendly atmosphere can be a challenge, but it's not something you can ignore, as a positive corporate culture is an important factor in a company's success.

In this regard, transparency and open dialog remain key factors, allowing problems to be discussed and negative emotions to be extinguished. A positive attitude allows people to discuss any issues at work and talk about their problems without fear of reprisals.

For example, you can involve employees in the company's culture by offering training on safe behavior in the workplace in case of sexual harassment.

As part of increasing transparency, it is necessary to organize channels for reporting violations. This will allow people to report any problems without fear of retaliation.

Are there any other simple ways to make the workplace a positive place? Smile. It's an easy way to transmit happiness and positive energy. In addition, since happiness is contagious, your smile will make others happier too.

Emphasize employee successes

Everyone is probably interested in how much they contribute to the common cause, because the greater the contribution, the more likely you are to continue doing it.

Recognizing individual, team, and corporate achievements is an important part of rewarding employees. No matter how important bonuses and benefits are, recognition of merit is no less effective a motivator.

What other means of rewarding employees besides monetary compensation can be used?

• Flexibility in work or more free time.
• A simple "thank you" can also boost a person's morale and make them feel appreciated.

It is important to note that what motivates and inspires us is individual to each of us. As a leader, you must clearly understand what is meaningful to each team member.