Every business owner is concerned with productivity. It’s one of the most important metrics a leader can measure and improve upon. It’s usually pretty easy to focus on outside distractions and seek out obvious inefficiencies. It’s not quite so easy to realize when you as leader are the roadblock or the bottleneck. Take a second to reflect on these common ways leaders are killing productivity in the workplace.

You’re Bogging Your Team Down With Tasks That Could Be Automated

Have you embraced technology? We mean really embraced technology. You’ve probably ditched the filing cabinets and ledgers, but there’s so much more. There are endless possibilities when it comes to automation.

When you automate tasks you enhance efficiencies and consistency, and reduce the use of redundant resources. Take a look at each task that is repeated on a daily or weekly basis and at least consider the idea that it could be automated. What would that look like and what would be the return over one, five, or ten years?

Read more on automation here.

You’re Hoarding Information and Responsibility

Information is power, so why do we tend to find all the information closest to the top of the ladder? Sometimes leaders don’t think the information is necessary for the task, they don’t want to take the time to give context, or they might even think giving too much information can be overwhelming.

Stop underestimating your team and start empowering them. First, figure out why you aren’t delegating and sharing information. No time? Maybe you need a centralized information hub. Worried about follow through? Perhaps you need automated work queues and accountability alerts. Doing it yourself is just easier than training someone? We know it’s hard to give up that control, but it’s 100% necessary in order to foster growth and support scalability.

You’re Not Conveying Clear Expectations

Do you ever get frustrated because you can’t seem to get your team to do exactly what it is you want? Well, have you stopped to consider whether or not you’ve made your expectations clear? Communication can be a really funny thing, especially when your main communication medium is email. So much can get lost in translation, and lack of context can be a productivity killer.

Stop assuming your expectations are clear. Stop relying on email as a project management system. Instead, create concrete goals for staff members. Be sure you and your team have a shared understanding of what success looks like with each step. Does this feel like a lot more trouble than it’s worth? Trust us, it’s not. Conveying clear expectations and standards consistently will set the bar going forward.

Could you use a more productive staff? Let us help you help them! It’s what we do; we help leaders find the inefficiencies and productivity blocks in their team (including themselves). Let’s talk about how we can make work flow in your organization.