As a leader, understanding the evolving dynamics of team productivity and the nuances of modern work environments is crucial. Now, more than ever.
The State of Teams 2024 report by Atlassian offers insights that can help leaders navigate these complexities and enhance their team’s performance. The following highlights some key concepts, leadership techniques and insights from this research.
Embracing Distributed Work
One of the significant trends highlighted in the report is the shift towards more distributed work and the realization that this requires evolved techniques, tooling and leadership skills. Distributed work is when you have one or more team members who work in different locations. It is not just about where work happens, but more importantly, how it gets done. According to the report, “distributed teams that use tools effectively are 30% more likely to be highly Whether your organization is remote, hybrid, or office-based, a renewed focus on optimizing work processes is essential. This involves concepts such as leveraging new technology to facilitate asynchronous collaboration and effective communication across time zones.
Leadership Tip: Invest in collaborative tools that support distributed teams by making workflows transparent and goals visible. These tools also help in managing dependencies and tracking progress seamlessly. Continue to evolve and introduce tools to more effortlessly help teams collaborate and drive ideas and decisions. Structure views based on communication trends to influence and guide teams on how to use the available toolsets in their working patterns. Don’t leave it to chance (if so – see “notification” overload below).
Prioritizing Psychological Safety
Psychological safety is a cornerstone of high-performing teams. The report underscores the importance of creating environments where team members feel safe to express their ideas and take risks without fear of negative consequences. Data from the report shows that “teams with high psychological safety are 27% more likely to innovate and 35% more likely to collaborate effectively.”
Leadership Tip: Encourage open dialogue and actively work to build trust within your team. Use regular check-ins and team-building activities to strengthen relationships and ensure everyone feels valued and heard. Implement performance strategies and develop leaders on the skills and behaviors to instill and nurture psychologically safe teams at the top.
Productivity Detractors Continue to Encroach
The report identifies several key detractors to productivity that leaders need to address:
1. Meeting Overload: Many employees are overwhelmed by the number of meetings they must attend, which can detract from their focus on mission-critical tasks and entering flow state during their working hours. Many talents are reporting a struggle with balance.
Recommendation: Streamline meetings by setting clear agendas, making sure they are necessary, and encouraging asynchronous updates where possible. Consider which meetings should be an email or can be covered in another similar update or leadership address. As a leader communicate openly on this and help your team members audit and refine where their time is going.
2. Notification Overload: Constant notifications can interrupt deep work and create stress. The report notes that “75% of knowledge workers feel overwhelmed by the volume of notifications they receive.”
Recommendation: Set boundaries for notifications. Encourage team members to turn off non-essential notifications during focused work periods and to check messages at scheduled intervals. For example multi tasking during a meeting is a signal to consider if it’s an issue with the meeting, workload, culture or a notification boundary issue. Be sure your communication channels are clear in your ways of working. Realize that many of these notifications are self inflicted as well – with a growing distraction of technology and apps using notification signals as ways to pull your team into content.
3. Unclear Priorities: Without clear priorities, teams can waste time on tasks that don’t contribute to strategic goals. According to the report, “only 28% of employees feel their goals are aligned with their team’s objectives.”
Recommendation: Use frameworks like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to set and align clear, measurable goals. Regularly review and adjust these goals to keep everyone focused on what’s most important.
Implementing Work-Life Balance Strategies
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial for sustaining long-term productivity and employee well-being. The report highlights the effectiveness of time-boxing strategies, which involve allocating specific blocks of time for different tasks and activities, including personal time.
Leadership Tip: Encourage your team to use time-boxing techniques and other personal management strategies to help team members break down and schedule work. Tools can help visualize daily schedules and ensure that important tasks are given the time they deserve. Leaders who communicate expectations clearly and transparently can help foster better workload planning for individuals. Additionally, promoting flexibility in work hours can help employees manage their personal and professional responsibilities more effectively while increasing engagement and quality of work outcomes when done right
Effectively Embrace Workplace Tech
Effective use of technology can significantly enhance team productivity. AI-driven tools and advanced project management software can help in breaking down tasks, managing workloads, and ensuring that everyone is aligned on the team’s goals. The report mentions that “teams using AI tools are 40% more efficient and 30% more likely to meet their deadlines.”
Leadership Tip: Stay updated on the latest technological advancements and invest in tools that can automate routine tasks and provide insights into team performance. This allows your team to focus on high-impact activities. Enable your teams to utilize new tools within their communities of practice to augment work while helping them embrace the rise of AI augmented workflows in the future.
Leaders are accountable to enhance their team’s productivity and well-being. Great leaders take it to heart and take action. By embracing distributed work models, fostering psychological safety, addressing productivity detractors, and leveraging technology, leaders can create a more effective and engaging work environment.
For a deeper dive into these insights, I highly recommend reading the full report on Atlassian’s website
Looking for advisory or support in this area? Contact Good Intent.