Efficiently functioning teams cannot be defined merely as an assembly of competent individuals working at the same workplace. The success of high-performing teams is determined by their developed practices of managing time, communicating with each other, using technology and improving collaboration.

Productivity is often associated with busyness. A busy schedule, overloaded email inbox and numerous things to do give the impression of productivity, but productivity does not equal busyness. High-performing teams concentrate on doing things that result in achieving goals and minimizing unnecessary pressure and chaos.

The optimal productivity practices are always simple and clear, helping team members understand priorities, feel more confident and support each other without adding new administrative levels.

Time Management Starts with Shared Priorities

Time-management skills are critical individually, but team productivity is based on joint understanding.

If all the team members have different visions of priorities and expectations, competent employees will be unable to collaborate effectively. Efficiently functioning teams define their priorities and make conscious decisions regarding what requires attention.

It means answering questions like:

What should be done first?

What tasks are necessary for the overall goal?

What is possible to delay, simplify or delete?

Effective time management includes protecting the blocks of focused work time. Meetings, emails, and instant messages could fragment your day to the point that it will be hard for you to accomplish anything that requires focused attention.

The team members can help themselves by determining if every conversation needs to be held in a meeting. The update can simply be written. The decision does not have to involve everyone – it might suffice to get the views of those who are directly involved. The meeting itself might have lost its usefulness after some time.

Productive teams regard time as a collective resource. They are aware that each unnecessary demand placed on one member affects the whole team.

Communication Should Create Clarity

Communication is productive when it allows people to understand what is going on, what is expected and what they should do next.

Successful teams do not always communicate more but rather communicate better.

It will be easier to act on a message when there is a context, an action and a deadline included. When you ask for example, “Can you look at this?” the person receiving the message will need extra time to determine how to respond to your question.

Technology Should Reduce Friction

Communication technology can boost productivity, but only if it simplifies management.

Using more communication channels is not going to increase efficiency necessarily. Instead, having too many channels may spread information in different places and lead to duplication of efforts, lack of updates and uncertainty regarding which version of the document is the latest one.

Effective teams have a very strategic approach towards technology. They have defined standards on where the information is supposed to reside and what platforms should be used to discuss certain issues and how documents should be named.

Automation could also help to eliminate tedious administration tasks like information transfer, creation of standard notifications, etc. But automation should help improve the existing processes, not hide the inefficiencies of those processes.

Prior to implementing any technology, a team needs to answer several questions:

What issue do we want to address?

Would it simplify the process?

Is it properly integrated into the existing processes?

Who will be responsible for maintaining it?

The best way technology should function is by enabling people, not distracting their time.

Delegation Builds Capacity and Trust

Delegation is more than just handing something over. It requires assigning the task with sufficient information, authority, and support to make it happen.

Failing to delegate effectively causes frustration. Either a task can be delegated without providing any context, leaving the delegator in full control of all decisions. Or the task can be assigned without defining the expectations, which then causes disappointment.

Good delegation starts with defining what is expected. The person doing the task needs to know the desired results, limits, resources, and how to check their progress.

Another crucial element of delegation is assigning tasks based on the abilities and growth of people involved. Members of your team will feel more motivated knowing that they are trusted with important tasks, rather than just asked to do the same old stuff.

However, delegation doesn’t mean that you are off the hook when assigning a task. You should still be available to help whenever they have any questions.

Question: Are you delegating results, or just the task?

Proper delegation will improve your ability to take on more tasks and build confidence among your team members.

Continuous Improvement Becomes Part of the Work

Excellent teams do not have to wait until a crisis hits to assess their approach. Instead, they pick up on smaller indications of issues and adapt as required.

Continuous improvement can start with some simple questions:

What is going well?

What is holding us back?

Where are we repeating our mistakes?

What could we streamline for next time?

Discussion must center around process improvements and not blame. If people are afraid of negative judgments, then they will not want to discuss issues. If, however, they feel comfortable sharing about what went wrong, the team can learn from it.

It also involves taking action. There is no use in gathering information that will not be used in any way. Teams should come up with one thing to improve, try it out and see if it helps.

There is no need to make radical changes. Even something as small as fixing a template, sorting out responsibilities, getting rid of unnecessary approval or handover can greatly help with everyday tasks.

Productivity Is a Team Practice

Effective teams are not characterized by endless urgency. Rather, they foster a working atmosphere in which there is a clear prioritization of tasks, good communication, effective utilization of technology, shared responsibility, and continuous improvement.

These practices reinforce each other. Communication allows for easier delegation. Proper utilization of technology leads to effective time management. Continuous review enables a team to see areas that require improvement in terms of communication, systems, and responsibilities.

The question that should be asked is not, “How can we motivate everyone to do more?”

The question that should be asked is, “How can we make the team work with more clarity, focus, and confidence?”