It’s beginning to dawn on us, finally, that we are all trying to do too much.

It’s a common complaint, we hear ourselves and our colleagues describe going round and round in circles, somehow never becoming more productive.

Who do we blame for this? Other people? Is life just not fair? Do we blame ourselves and feel we just need to chase our tail even more efficiently?

Or could the answer just be as simple as engaging in some good team working?

Before you start beating yourself up for not being productive enough, try these ten tips to use others to make your productivity soar:

1. Don’t try to do everything yourself – how many times do we need reminding of this? The first and most treacherous productivity pitfall.

2. Use the expertise of others to help you work more quickly and look good all at the same time – people love to do what they’re best at, so bring them on board and their skills will follow.

3. Parallel working gets more done – much better than multi tasking – so get your team working alongside you. What a great feeling when you turn round and things have magically been ticked off the task list

4. Be clear in your instructions the first time round – no one is a mind reader – if you have not told your team something, they will not know it.

5. Be honest about what you do not know – vague instructions which lead from a lack of your knowledge are often misinterpreted as either a carte blanche to just go for it or a sign that you cannot be bothered to give more information or worse still that you are keeping something from the troops

6. Give people a break – do they really have to do things exactly the way you would do it? Maybe their way is actually better

7. Give your team enough notice to help you – even if you do not have all the information yet, let them know you will need some of their time so they can manage their workload to fit you in

8. Be kind and generous in your treatment of people whose help you need – help them when they need it and that favour will come back to you tenfold.

9. Be a supportive team leader – listen to your team, let them air their concerns. They may have a point. Then add your point of view and see where that takes you

10. Never forget to say thank you, whether the hard work has paid off or not – hard work without success AND no thanks is difficult to swallow.

Call Sarah on 07976 395754 for some more information.