Is Productivity Tied to Leadership? (Explained for Beginners)
You have probably pondered whether there is a relationship or connection between leadership and productivity.Â
Knowing the connection between your employee’s productivity and your influence as a leader is essential. It opens your eyes to how you can engage them towards achieving your organization’s goal.
Leadership impacts the performance and productivity of any given organization. Leadership or the lack thereof is a major contributing factor to the success or downfall of many companies.
So if you want to see the bold goals of your business or organization come to life, you should look into how you lead your team. Research has shown that highly productive companies achieve that mainly due to exemplary leadership.
This post will tell you how leadership impacts productivity and share some leadership strategies you can implement to boost employee productivity. We’ll also cover the ways you can become a more productive leader.
What’s the impact of leadership on productivity?
Leadership impacts organizational growth and productivity through motivation and engagement rather than authority. Your leadership position consists of both authority and influence. Influence is the ability to affect a person’s development, behavior, or character, while authority is the power to make decisions, give orders, and impose obedience.
Knowing when and how often to use power or authority defines how great a leader you are. Good leaders understand that working hard and being more productive are two entirely different things.
To be a good leader means you get to lead your team to achieve their maximum productivity. You can reach the two by analyzing everything you do and eliminating tasks that add little to no value to your company. Finding ways that motivate your employees to work smarter but not harder can lead to a notable increase in productivity.
On the other hand, wrongful use of authority by a leader causes frustration and demotivation. The two are catalysts of poor productivity within an organization.Â
Poor communication and decreased or lack of engagement lead to less involvement by employees, resulting in underperformance and low productivity in your business.
Leadership strategies to boost employee productivity
In today’s business world, leaders in different organizations strive to meet the set goals to achieve the organization’s target. Bringing out the best in your employees is a way you can sustain your clientele and keep your business running smoothly.
Utilize these tips as a team leader to improve your team’s productivity:
Prioritize employee engagement
A lack of employee engagement substantially impacts productivity. Disengaged workers become slower, easily distracted, and generally perform poorly.Â
You can engage most of your employees with subtle changes in your management skills by:
- Recognizing and acknowledging employee success through a leader in your organization.
- Permitting your employees to have a healthy work-personal life balance.
- Providing professional development opportunities through subsidized online courses, manager-led sessions, and mentorships.
- Communicating by enquiring from your team what your company’s leadership can do for them to make them comfortable and more engaged.
Your employee’s renewed commitment and energy should be worth the investment if you wish to get their maximum productivity.
Liven up the office
Most conversations about productivity focus on workplace culture and individual behavior but forget that altering the physical workspace can have dramatic effects. According to some academic research, the following in-office factors can lead to higher productivity.
- Pets: A study from Virginia Commonwealth University showed that dog owners tend to experience less stress when they bring their dogs to work. The direct effect of dogs on a worker’s productivity was mixed. However, the fact that stress limits productivity is not rocket science. You can come up with a policy that lets your team members work in the company of their pets in a controlled manner.
- Plants: University of Exeter’s study discovered that supplementing a plain office with plants can boost productivity by 15%. Landscaping your office with plants could pay off through improved quality of life and productivity of your workers.Â
- Natural light: The Journal of Clinical Sleep Machine published research that revealed that workers who don’t have access to windows got a low score on sleep quality and vitality, which results in reduced productivity.Â
- Warmer temperatures: According to research from the University of Southern California, overly air-conditioned offices could lower women’s productivity. Going the extra mile to consider the comfort of your workers could lead to a notable rise in profit and productivity.Â
- Colors: During her research, Nancy Kwallek, a professor at the University of Texas, discovered that the typical office color white does not help boost productivity. Dull colors could dim your team’s morale to maximize their productivity.Â
Offer robust family benefits
The majority of the workforce in most organizations today are millennials, most of whom are new parents. This means that family concerns and work-life balance nag on their minds most of the time. According to a survey from Care.com, a lack of benefits related to family assistance can hurt an individual’s work performance.
Giving employees the support, time, and space they need to do their best work is an important motivation. A leader can provide some benefits, including backup child care, which reduces employee stress and absenteeism.
As found in California, a paid family leave reduces the pressure on the affected team member. Less stressed workers means more productivity.
Let employees work independently
Encouraging constant collaboration in a workplace hurts productivity. Open office plans and meetings are the main ways of supporting a collaborative environment. However, they have adverse effects.
Studies show that working in open office plans causes a distraction of 86 minutes per day and decreases well-being. The average employee wastes 31 hours per month in unproductive meetings.
Giving your employees the space to work independently and letting them collaborate only when it is necessary increases their productivity. Some ways to do that include:
- Only require employees to attend meetings when their contribution is essential in resolving. Otherwise, communicate via email.
- Provide access to private workspaces such as cubicles, quiet-zone spaces, or offices.
- Encourage colleagues not to disturb their busy mates unless it is urgent.
Fewer distractions equal higher productivity amongst your team.
Give employees access to performance boosting tools
Having access to adequate tools and technology is a potential driver toward employee engagement.
Tools play a role in easing and enjoyment of work. They also give the employees the ability to perform above their competition.
If you have outdated technology around your office, you cannot expect growth-driving results from your employees. Providing up-to-date versions of the tools that your employees use can double up their performance and increase productivity in your company.
You can invite employees to draft a wish list of the materials they would like to have with reasons. Purchase the ones that have the potential to yield returns. The investment may be painful but will significantly boost productivity.
Improving employee productivity is a continuous effort. As a leader, you should stay alert to any changes to keep their motivation in check.
5 Tips to become a more productive leader
Vince Lombardi, an American football coach, once said that leaders are made; they are not born. To become a more productive leader, you need to work hard on learning leadership skills that can result in positive productivity. We can borrow a few tips from great leaders.
1. Set goals
Setting specific goals with deadlines is a great way to keep your team on track. Ensure the set goals sound realistic and can be measurable and achievable. Setting goals applies to projects and in moving your business forward.
You can begin by keeping a written daily log of your weekly activities and go through it after a week. You will be surprised to discover how much time you spend doing tasks you deem essential, but they don’t work towards meeting your goals.
2. Have a clear strategic plan
A clear plan of your goals and strategies is essential in increasing your productivity. Ensure you understand the mission, the steps along the way to achieve it, and the end goal. With a clear strategic plan, you can stay on track and give your team a better foundation.
3. Schedule everything
Consider noting everything down on a schedule rather than having a to-do list that can repeatedly get kicked down the drain. Choose a deadline for completing a particular task and document each step on the calendar. For more efficiency, organize your lists in order of urgency and importance.
Breaking down every activity, be it replying to emails or meeting with a client, helps you become more productive and saves you time.
4. Communicate and coach
For you and your team to remain on the same page, keep in touch so they can understand your expectations.Â
Continuous feedback keeps a team in the know of whether they are doing things right. It also sheds light on areas where they need active coaching to improve.
Create time in your schedule to give regular feedback to individuals or the whole group.
5. Take time to think
Great managers rise to the title by thinking strategically, and to keep up with the title, they need to evolve. Spare some time off your schedule every once in a while to think about the future. Since your business and the team you lead are counting on your guidance, take the time to plot the course.
Conclusion
Good leadership is a critical factor in increasing a team’s productivity in a corporate setting. Great leaders and successful managers are lifelong learners.Â
They always welcome the opportunity to improve their management skills.
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