Productivity Killers: Are they wreaking havoc on your team?

Is your organization or team consistently meeting goals, deadlines, and expectations set before them? If you answered NO, then it’s time to dust off your productivity killer detector, so you can minimize these obstacles to your forward momentum:

1. Stress

   A little pressure can mean growth to meet a challenge, but too much stress can bring your team members to a stand still. Think about a time when someone your know was in over their heads with stress. What was their reaction to the significant stress they were experiencing? Did they isolate themselves? Did they have outward bursts of emotions, such as yelling, crying, or physical aggression? When you tried to talk to them, how receptive were they to hearing what you had to say? How much could you trust them to make sound decisions in their high emotional state? How comfortable was it working with them or being by their side for an extended period of time?

   Now imagine that several of your team members are operating in this high-stress state (let’s face it - there’s a lot of stressful things happening in the world today). How effective is their communication, collaboration, and decision-making?

   How can you help your team members navigate stress and high emotions?

2. Interpersonal Conflict

   Nothing deflates productivity like interpersonal conflict on your team. When trust is low, productivity is slow. When was the last time you had to work with someone you thought was doing something behind your back or that promoted themselves at your expense? Perhaps you were teamed up with someone that was unreliable, or maybe you felt like you were speaking two different languages and never getting anywhere with them. Were you withholding information from them or vice versa? Did you find yourself doing more work to make sure things got done? It’s painful to work with others when interpersonal conflict has not been resolved.

   How can you give your team tools to confidently resolve conflict with others?

3. Muddy Expectations

   Is your team stepping on each others’ toes or perhaps not stepping at all because they assume it’s someone else’s responsibility to get certain things done? Is your team chasing a rabbit trail because they have somehow diverged from the direction your communicated? Are your team members clear about how their performance is being measured? The power of your team is much more potent when members have a clear track for success that is both distinct in consideration of individual strengths and expertise as well as unified toward a common purpose.

   How can my team members get started with a clear track for success?

   How can I unify my team toward a common purpose?

4. Silos

   Do your team members have tunnel vision? Do they make decisions without consideration of the impact on others within their department or perhaps other departments across your team? Is there an unhealthy rivalry going on between members that serve in different functions? Administration vs. Production or Field employees. Management vs. Non-Management. Senior Leaders vs. Mid-level Managers. Sales vs. Operations.

   When people make decisions without considering how it impacts you, it can be frustrating. When people tell you what to do without first seeking your input, it’s tough to comply, especially when you perceive what they are doing as a disaster to your intended accomplishments.

   How can I break down barriers across my team, so they are working together and not in silos?

5. Time Wasters

   Do you have a procrastinator on your team? How about a social butterfly? What about someone with an insatiable appetite for details, or perhaps someone whose desk is buried under piles of documents and other items? We all have time wasters that are specific to our own behavior styles. Think about it - What generally gets in the way of you being able to prioritize and accomplish your goals?

   How can you address your team members’ time wasters, so they can build productive new habits?

As your resource for all things related to people within your organization, I have the tools you need - assessments, coaching, facilitation, and consulting - to help your team stop these productivity killers from stealing your success. Follow me on social media to further explore solutions to these common issues within organizations and teams. Check out my assessment options, and be sure to schedule your free 20-minute chat with me to discover what Flow Momentum can do for your business.