This newsletter curates productivity insights across the internet. It keeps you up-to-date on productivity tactics and startup news.This week is all about productivity.

“There is no way to automatically turn up your team's productivity — it takes a lot of work, effort, trial, and error” – MercerAt Optimization, we agree that boosting a team’s productivity requires hard work, determination, and a willingness to experiment. To this end, we use tools like Notion, Slack, and Zapier to streamline our work processes and automate repetitive tasks. This has increased our operational efficiency and freed up time for our team to focus on more critical tasks that require human attention. We also recognize the unique skills of our team members and identify tasks that leverage their strengths. Here are the tips that stood out the most for us in this article.

“Studies show that good management can significantly boost productivity, increase market value and growth, as well as the ability to withstand adverse situations like a recession. The action of managers and the enterprise can decisively influence the realization of productivity of the business“ – Ishan

It may sound self-explanatory, but when different types of managers take charge in certain situations, it may lead to a different response from the team. A study by Gallup also points out that 70% of the variance in employee engagement can be attributed to management. If you’re a startup, you’ll also experience certain dynamics that are found in the workplace.

This article also provides practical tips on improving team productivity and showcases the benefits of increased productivity. Some of these benefits Include:

How do you manage your team’s productivity?

Remote jobs have their haters and their fans. Remote and hybrid working environments have risen in the last few years thanks to the pandemic. However, “according to a September 2022 Microsoft survey of 20,006 global knowledge workers, many managers still have issues trusting employees who work remotely. 85% of leaders say the shift to hybrid work has made it hard to be confident that employees are being productive. And while 87% of workers report they’re performing just fine, only 12% of employers say they have full confidence their team is productive” — therein lies the problem, and the “productivity paranoia” phenomenon was created. There seems to be a challenge with transparency among some managers regarding remote work. The shift towards hybrid work has brought new and potential risks, making it challenging to keep track of a team's performance.

Alexia Cambon, Director of Research at an HR consultancy firm, believes that for this productivity paranoia to end, roles must be defined. She believes their function should shift from monitoring inputs like workers’ time to outcome-based management. “Instead of micromanaging, the aim should be to instead facilitate conversations between remote-working teams, help design a hybrid schedule that suits employees and provides clarity on organizational goals.”

We all know that Notion is great for keeping track of projects, tasks, daily journals, and documents. But, sometimes, a lengthy document can be overwhelming for readers. To make it easier and more enjoyable to read, try using toggles. This will help keep your readers engaged and make their experience a more pleasant one. Our founder, Tem, went over a few tips about using toggles in your documents here.

Image by ash.lmb

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Until next time,

Optemization⚡️

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