Increasing productivity is an eternal objective for businesses all over the world. It can feel like some sort of magic bullet that will solve all of your problems and elevate you above your competitors. This leads some companies to try and force this productivity through stricter, more work-focused environments that can lead to burn-out, exhaustion and mental health issues in your team. 

If you instead understand that productivity comes from within your team, you can begin to understand them as individuals and create an atmosphere that helps to support their best work. 

The Environment Itself 

If your employees are coming into work for a full-time shift and the environment presented to them is a grey, drab space with cubicles, fluorescent lighting, and a sour attitude towards friendly conversation, their mental health will begin to suffer. 

Creating a positive working environment refers to both the physical and the emotional space. A spacious, colorful room with house plants and natural lighting can help to contribute to a more positive physical space, but what about the emotional? For that, you want to make sure your team feels comfortable. If they feel as though they’re in constant distress while at work, it won’t be long before they look elsewhere. 

Challenges and Opportunities 

For many people, they want their time spent working to be time that’s going towards some sort of goal. These goals might sometimes be about trying to make a positive difference, but sometimes it can just be about trying to further their individual careers. Therefore, you want to provide a workplace that offers them challenges that can shape them as professionals. If they’re shown to be capable of meeting these challenges, having opportunities available for them can work as ample incentive. 

These opportunities might come in the form of the chance to use industry-standard tools such as an API platform, or it might be that you can provide training in an area of their choice. Once they’ve gained ample experience and undergone the proper training, you might even have higher positions for them to work their way into, encouraging them to stay at your company for the long term. 

Communicating Trust 

To understand your staff, you’re going to have to learn how to communicate with them. To begin with this process, you have to understand the power dynamic at play here. Many staff members are going to feel uncomfortable being honest about their feelings around you because you hold all of the power, and they might want to keep their job. That means you have to work hard to cultivate an atmosphere of trust.  

This can be difficult, but it can help to express your trust in non-verbal ways. Being hands off with your management style but avoiding micromanaging can let your employees know that you believe in their capabilities to do their job effectively. That can help them come to you with problems that do arise and lead to a more balanced understanding between you.