There is one thing in common between us small business owners and the big guns behind the world’s most aggressive tech companies today. Google’s Sundar Pichai, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, and Canva’s Melanie Perkins all have the same 24 hours that we have every day. Still, you must be wondering how come they are able to produce outstanding, monumental, and out of the box ideas? How are they able to mobilise their complex teams? How are they able to manage such number of people under their organisation and make sure that everyone is being efficient?
Let us learn from this new generation of business leaders and how they hack their way through better and consistent team productivity.
1. Fewer meetings.
Back in the day, meetings comprise a huge chunk of a team’s work week – there is the Monday pep talk where you gather everyone to assign tasks and wish them good luck; the mid-week one where you either talk about an issue and then try to solve it right there and then; and the Friday status report. These meetings can last from about an hour or two, and if there are food and
entertainment, it can even last longer.
Meetings break your work plan for the day, cut your momentum just in time when you have started to feel pumped already, and even steer you away from what needs to be done in your to-do list. Most often than not, problems don’t get solved in meetings either.
Jeff Bezos of Amazon is known to dislike meetings and is said to spend about 6 hours a year only for these meet-and-greets. If there are ways to get messages through within your team, use email, team chat, or the phone. Be concise in your message if you think you need advice, help, or suggestion. Be straightforward, transparent, and maintain an open channel with everyone in your team.
2. Empower your employees by letting them share in the decision-making process.
Formulating decisions don’t have to be your sole responsibility. Think about the many possible ideas that your employees can bring in to the table. With this practice, you are able to make them feel that their voice matters to you and that they play an important role in growing the business. The famous saying, “Two heads are better than one”, supports this concept. Make it not only just two but three, four, even more!
This tip also saves you a significant amount of time. With your staff helping you, getting to a solution could mean you, getting there faster and easier. You can then move on quickly to your next task.
3. Advise your employees to utilise their breaks, rest days, and time away from work.
Oprah is no tech person, but she is known for her 20-minute stillness practice. Many Silicon Valley leaders are allegedly following suit. This practice is said to clear your mind off distractions.
Another suggestion is to encourage your employees to make use of their breaks, and if they can spend it away from their work area, the better. They can take short strolls, naps, read a book, or even do some craft projects whilst resting.
4. Stop the glorification of busy.
You may think that tech CEOs are workaholics – many of them are, but one statement that is gaining popularity amongst them is, “Stopping the glorification of busy.” Being busy does not necessarily mean that you are being productive. It may even be a sign of poor time management most especially if you are a serial busy-bee in the workplace. This statement was popularised by Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post and she was supported by the likes of Guy Kawasaki, former Chief Evangelist of Apple and now a marketing consultant for Australia’s very own, Canva.
5. Don’t shy away from big, ambitious goals.
Aiming to double your sales projections for the next year? Planning to open a second store in a nearby suburb? Looking to partner with a big eyewear brand? You may think of them as big and ambitious goals but who cares, they are your ideas and there is nothing wrong with you targeting them together with your team.
Never laugh at yourself for thinking about such huge objectives. Instead, discuss these goals to your staff, advisors, friends, or family. Conduct vision setting at the start of the year, get your team’s say about them, and jot down ways by which you can draw in closer towards these goals. If you have been following Mark Zuckerberg annual goals published every January, you’ll know that this exercise is helpful not to say, very inspiring too. He made a decision though in January 2020 to stop annual goal-setting but to instead focus on longer term targets. Still vision-setting, right?
Meanwhile, if you want to introduce something new to the business, take inspiration from our very own home-grown techpreneur, Melanie Perkins of Canva. She started prototyping her dream design tool in her mum’s living room at age 19. She has always been a very ambitious person. Now, she leads Australia’s largest privately-owned company, with offices spanning different continents. What does this mean for you? This means, when you have an idea in mind, say you want to implement a new process within your operations, just test it. Trial and error will help you identify pros and cons faster. Don’t hesitate to start.
We would love to share more productivity hacks with you. Follow us on social media to be updated on other articles related to this topic. Meanwhile, if you have your own strategy when it comes to fostering productivity amongst your team, feel free to share by writing to us at hello@ocelotplus.com.au or by messaging us on Facebook. Visit our website too at www.ocelotplus.com.au. Until our next blog!
