We are all trying to be more productive. To make it in today’s business climate, we feel as though we have to find those magical techniques that allow us do more with less. A Google search on the phrase, “How to increase productivity at work” yields a multitude of articles tackling this subject. Most focus on the individual and what he or she can do individually to be more productive – get more sleep, take breaks, make to-do lists, etc. That’s all well and good, except for the fact that these tactics don’t really help you become productive at all.
Ok, a lot of the time it is about you. Your ability to get a certain amount of tasks done in a given day is an important piece in your search to increase productivity, but it’s only a small piece. The bigger and more important piece of the productivity puzzle lays in how you get others to help you increase your productivity. The key to increased productivity is teamwork. A study from the Stanford Graduate School of Business found this to be true in the most unlikely of situations. By putting rank and file steel mill workers into meetings and allowing them to collaborate on solving problems in their department, mills saw an increase in their yield. So much so, that during the 5 years of this study, the introduction of problem-solving teams at steel mills nearly tripled. Kathryn Shaw, one of the study’s authors, is quoted as saying, “You’re bringing a group of people together to solve a complex problem. You’re bringing people together because no one person can solve the problem as well as the group.” And isn’t that the truth!? A single person can get things done to the best of their ability, but a team allows multiple abilities to merge, creating a better, well-rounded outcome. It doesn’t matter if you work in a steel mill or a Fortune 500 tech company. Minds working together is better than minds working apart. The best way to merge the minds and abilities of a group of people is to get those people to meet. That’s what a meeting is after all – The merging of minds. But meetings aren’t the most popular of activities. We’ve all been in a meeting where we’ve walked out thinking, “What a waste of time!” If you want to truly increase your productivity, you need to have successful meetings. Successful meetings are accomplished when the desired outcome of the meeting is achieved. These meetings aren’t a waste of time. People walk away from successful meetings excited, empowered and invigorated, knowing exactly what they need to accomplish, who to work with and how to get it done. Meetings can actually be anti-productive and you might not even know it. This is especially true in a world where so many of our meetings take place in the digital realm. A lot of the time, a “great meeting” is defined by the lack of technical issues — no dropped calls, no issues entering the room, everything set up on time, etc. The function of the meeting product becomes the definition of success. This is the wrong metric. This is the bare minimum. If you’re focusing on productivity, you shouldn’t measure success on functionality. You should measure success on your desired outcomes. If you’re looking for the secret to productive success, here it is. Truly productive people focus a group of people on a desired outcome or objective. That objective is clearly defined and drives every aspect of the meeting. It starts with product selection and meeting preparation. The objective says top of mind throughout the process and is revisited and evaluated at the end. It is the structure on which minds merge with the greatest of ease. Objective driven meetings increase team effectiveness, team effectiveness increases productivity at work. Learn more about objective driven meetings, sign up for our newsletter, Teaming Edge.
Your productivity isn’t about you.
Effective teamwork increases productivity.
Outcome driven meetings increase productivity and teamwork effectiveness.
A great meeting might not be what you think it is.
The secret of a truly productive person.
