Simple Guidelines for Team Productivity

Talking about productivity in team work, whether we like it or not - meetings and mails play a critical role. They are double-edged swords which can greatly enhance productivity or badly cripple it, depending on how they are used and conducted. 

Have you experienced these in your corporate life - A few common incidents that are always irksome:

• I send a meeting request. I don’t get any response from the other end. I’m kept guessing if the other person would join or not. Worse, I join the meeting not knowing whether the stakeholder will join and wait in uncertainty
• I get a meeting request with a cryptic description e.g. ‘meet’ and with no agenda. I'm at a loss to decide whether to accept or not. 
• I get a mail marked to multiple people on ‘To’ list. The mail content doesn’t specify anyone in specific but orders a task to be done 😊
• I get a phone call from an employee to check if my team member is on leave, because he/ she did not join a meeting which he/ she was supposed to join
• Online special - The Mortuary Meeting: You're talking in a meeting or presentation or training. There are many participants, most of them hiding behind rectangular icons of the screen - Zoom, Teams, Hangout etc., bearing their initials or profile photo to indicate their identity. You assume that they're connected and are listening to you. At the end you ask if all are ok with the proceedings. The entire meeting is in a mortuary-like silence and with grace and honor, you interpret the 'silence' for 'Acceptance'.   
• A volunteer is sought to experiment something new in the team. The mortuary-like silence is back. You are one of the very few to volunteer. After reviewing with the team, you get into execution. In case of an adverse feedback, the first one to amplify it outside your team, adding his/ her own negativity to it - quite likely even without validating - is the one from your own team. 
• I highlight a risk or an issue in a meeting. Some members react that all is well and there is nothing to worry. Decibels and authority subdue commonsense and logic. At a later point in time, the risk materializes. You unfortunately remember that you had highlighted it long back. Those who ignored and downplayed the risks are now silent. Most likely, they don’t even remember that the same risk was raised but it was their own ignorance and arrogance that subdued it. Worse, with the same, they now shout at the team for not identifying the risk earlier. That's why it is told, "Ignorance is bliss". 

To address these, we could start with high-sounding words such as Culture, Values, Code of Conduct, Ethics etc. The definition of such terms, how they relate to each other and the hair-splitting differences between them are topics of academic discussions. However, for working in teams in an organization, a few simple guidelines may be good enough to maximize productivity, balancing it with “Respect for fellow-members” and basic humanitarian considerations. 

Meeting:

1. Plan the meeting in-advance. Don’t spring surprises on calendars, unless absolutely necessary. Limit ad-hoc meetings/ calls to 5~10mins, particularly during peak working hours
2. Check the calendar before proposing. Consider the time-zone of other participants while proposing.
3. Circulate the agenda in advance. It will help the participants prepare better
4. Respond to meeting request – Accept or Decline. Your silence doesn’t mean anything to anyone. Provide extra notes and propose alternate slot if declining or accepting tentatively.
5. Estimate the meeting duration based on topics and block only as much time as needed.
6. Join the meeting on-time or with minimum delay. If you find that you may not be able to join a meeting or will be joining late, drop note to the organizer as early as possible to help him/ her plan/ re-plan accordingly
7. If you’re the organizer of the meeting, circulate a brief note on key decisions and action items. A “good to do” will be to make a note of discussion points as well. Circulate it without much delay. Actions to have assignee and end date. 
8. Follow-up your own actions to closure. Don't wait for reminders. No company has budget or Job Description or career path for an "Executive - Reminders" position. 

Mails:

1. Start the mail with an address viz. “Dear All”, “All”, “Hi <<Name>>”.
2. Know that those in the “To” list are the main target for the mail and “CC” are for info.
3. Copy only the relevant stakeholders, avoid blind “Reply All”, particularly for mails with sensitive discussions. Unless your organization has an award for "Mail TRP"s and you’re an applicant 😊
4. If multiple people in “To”, be specific while assigning actions

Some Generic Guiding Principles (Values) that can drive the above behavior are listed below: 

Ø  Ownership: You own-up your commitments.

o   You do not need secretaries to remind you of tasks for which you are responsible. Simple logic - If you’re doing something following someone’s reminder, you’re a ‘follower’, not a leader.  

o   While planning vacation or on leave, it is up to you to scan your calendar for your leave/ vacation period and think through and plan accordingly.

Ø  Respect others’ time. Follow the Meeting and mail guidelines

Ø  Flexibility: World has moved far ahead from Henry Ford’s 8-hrs work window. Based on your personal life, you know the best way to balance your personal and official commitments. Do it well.

Ø  Being a Team Player: When a volunteer is sought to experiment a new idea in the team, there are two possible thoughts that can come - "Why me?", "Why not me?". Be the "Why not me?" member, open to taking-up additional responsibilities. If you're unable to take it up, support the other volunteer from the team by sincerely reviewing it (if invited to review) in the overall interest of the team. The least you can do is to have your eyes and ears open and bring the feedback to the team early. If none, at least appreciate the efforts taken by the other team member, particularly when such things are well-delivered.      

Ø  Respect the Spirit rather than letters: Sticking to letters than to spirit can be a good theme for entertainment in Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” or any Akbar-Birbal story. But for organizations, it doesn’t improve productivity. As individuals ascend the maturity ladder, they understand, support and promote the spirit of policies, guidelines, new initiatives etc. than the letters.

Ø  Openness: While in meeting, participate and voice your opinion. Don’t shy away from highlighting issues or risks, irrespective of the participants’ reactions. You may still have a point. 

The team lead can create a culture of productivity in his team by (a) stating explicitly the above to the team (b) Demonstrating it to the team by following it himself and (c) promoting the adoption of these by the team members. Remember - even where there is a company culture, there are sub-cultures which are driven by the leaders at different levels and people leave managers, not the company.