Scott Wingo Business: 3 Strong Ways to Keep Teams Productive and On Track with Tasks

Team collaboration can bring together some of the brightest minds to tackle a common problem but one of the main drawbacks of working with teams stems from the troubles associated with keeping everyone on track with the tasks at hand.

Every member of the team will bring something unique to the group; there will be clashes, at times, so it’s your ability to manage these individuals that will make or break the projects.

Building an awesome team takes serious work but keeping them together to complete tasks is a whole different ball game.

The following are three strong ways to keep them productive and on track:

Keep Them Connected with Conferencing Tools

Members that make up the team may be scattered around the world if you are leveraging virtual assistants, freelancers, or remote employees. Despite a well-rounded group of talent it can be utterly destructive if you fail to provide the tools and resources to allow them to collaborate with ease.

One of the best methods to keep everyone on track is to hold regular video conference calls which allow each member to visually detail what part of the project has their focus and what’s being done.

If you’ve had trouble with video conferencing before, you should look into the conferencing solutions which allows for HD streaming, screen sharing, PC/Mac support, and other great features to keep every member productive in their work.

Video conferencing tools will become one of your best investments when working with a team; keep the services in mind the next time you start a team project.

Delegate Tasks; Encourage Creativity

There are those that need strict guidelines to complete their work and then there are those that need breathing space to unleash their creativity. The members of your team will likely represent a broad spectrum of work-types which is why it’s important to set appropriate structure for the project but allow for creative concepts to flourish.

Inciting creativity in a team environment can come through a variety of activities:

Holding regular meet ups which are casual and off the cuff to help with bonding

Creating a business environment that encourages off-the-wall ideas

Mix your team members based on personality types (even if they clash)

The members of the team should be encouraged to approach the tasks in their own manner; doing so will allow you to see faults in the collaboration or ways to streamline the communication between each member. Everyone, given the opportunity, will approach the project with their expertise and workflow – once they’ve shared their approach you can then mold each approach into a functional system that appeals to every participant.

Set Milestones and Rewards

Everyone wants a sense of accomplishment no matter how small the task.

The project should break down into manageable chunks which allow each member to reach milestones throughout the process of completion; these milestones reaffirm team member actions and give them the gratification that they’re moving forward.

The milestones, set, should also come with a number of rewards based on performance to encourage quality, such as:

Career development opportunities
Work environment recognition
Training and education
A greater amount of work responsibilities

Given the right rewards you can push each team member to the next level in their expertise and dedication. Employees want recognition and advancement above all else so keep this in mind when each member of the team reaches their milestones and close in on the completion of the project.

Knowing there is an advancement opportunity or some form of major recognition is often more than enough to kick their gears to the next level and keep them productive and on track.

What strategies would you suggest for keeping a team on track?

Source: http://www.affiliateprograms.com/blog/team-collaboration/