It’s a fact: focusing on your team’s strengths, and putting time and effort into building up your employees rather than focusing on their weaknesses, is much more effective in raising performance, research shows.

That’s the lowdown from a Gallup study of US workplaces, anyhow – which found that employees became more productive when they were aware of their strengths. (Also, team members who use their strengths at work every day are 15 percent less likely to leave the company, which is a nice bonus for any employer keen on employee retention).

Here are 6 things to focus on in order to build your team into a powerhouse.

Leadership experts across the board agree that good communication and being able to question things in a constructive way is essential – especially in a post-Covid world where so many of us are working remotely.

Staying connected when you’re not in the same room can be tough at times, and it’s up to the team leader to troubleshoot issues and ensure effective lines of communication stay open – whether your team is remote or on-site.

We’ve seen over and over during the pandemic just how important resilience and adaptability are in business. And the fact remains that an ability to pivot when faced with new metrics or information is still hugely important.

Encouraging this ability to rapidly shift gears involves everything from talking to your team about being ready for every eventuality (what might you do in XYZ situation). It might mean creating an experimental culture where your team can take risks, assess progress and consider next steps. And of course, keeping the conversation open and inspiring your team with your own proactivity.

Adopting an open-door policy – where team members are encouraged to approach their managers or team leaders with issues or feedback – is hugely important to the strength of your team.

It develops employee trust and also helps build a sense of psychological safety, which research shows leads to employees feeling they can take risks, be creative with solutions and speak their mind without fear of losing their job.

It’s a fact that stripping away the layers of management approvals can help your team stay agile and produce faster results. Sure beats sitting around twiddling your thumbs, right?

If possible, give your team the flexibility and the freedom to run with decisions in real time and you’ll help create more efficient processes and a team more focused on the end result.

Strong teams welcome diversity – that’s a given. Why is that important? Because the more diverse employees you have on your team, from differing backgrounds and experiences, the more diverse solutions you’ll get. It’s just good business – and actually, a diverse team may solve problems faster, according to Harvard Business Review.

To bring a more diverse culture to your workplace and your team, start with your recruiting strategy – which might involve rethinking the language in your job postings, overcoming unconscious bias and working with partners to potentially cast a wider net.

Successful teams have one focus: results – and that means team members won’t always agree. Debate and arguments may be part and parcel of reaching the end goal you’re working towards. It’s how you handle it that counts.

And experts believe a strong team is one that has a focus on collective results rather than their own KPIs – but this also requires a strong leader who sets clear expectations, rallies and encourages the troops, and gives feedback in a constructive and kind way.

We hope this post has given you some new ideas about boosting your team’s productivity! Don’t forget to check out our other informative content – or download our Toolkit.