Improving Team Productivity Without Adding Pressure
- David Langley
- May 22
- 3 min read
I did a favour for a friend's dad this week when they were in a spot of bother - just a bit of Spanish translation. I pumped it through Chat GPT and cross-checked it to make sure it was correct. Done in 5 minutes.
My friend's dad was amazed, and I told him that us Millenials are working smarter not harder.
He told me that when he was working, they had the mindset to be proud of their 30,000 air miles and array of meetings around the world, causing them to miss things and burnout.
Burnout isn't a badge of honour. Yet in many teams, "being productive" quietly gets translated into "doing more."
A recent article by People Management said almost two-thirds (62%) of people fear burnout in the workplace and believe businesses prioritise profit over people.
The truth is: teams don’t need more pressure—they need less friction. So how do you boost output sustainably, without piling on more tasks or stress whilst Improving Team Productivity Without Adding Pressure? Let’s get into it.
More Isn’t Better—Less Friction Is
If your team feels stuck, overwhelmed or slow-moving, the solution isn’t to add more hours, meetings, or tools. It’s to remove the blockers.
Here’s what to look for:
Unclear workflows: If people are unsure what happens next, they’ll hesitate or duplicate effort.
Bottlenecks: Waiting for approvals, chasing status updates, or micromanaged checkpoints slow everything down.
Context switching: Every tool, meeting, or message someone has to switch between adds friction. Multiply that by the team—and that’s a productivity killer.
Start by mapping out the actual flow of work. Not what’s in your Asana or ClickUp, but what really happens. You’ll spot inefficiencies you didn’t even realise were costing you time.
→ Tip: For every recurring task, ask “how could we make this 30% easier or faster?”, get the team to answer it as they'll probably have an idea.
Clear Roles Create Momentum
Ever had two people step on each other's toes on a project… or worse, no one take ownership? That’s a role clarity issue, not a motivation one.
When people know exactly what they're responsible for—and where their role ends and someone else's begins—they perform better. Why? Because:
There’s less second-guessing
Handover points are clearer
Accountability is clean (no “I thought they were doing it” moments)
CASE STUDY
We've recently been doing this with a company whilst defining their Project Governance. We've drawn their whole business process, and assigned an owner to every step, every document, every meeting.
The team now know their exact role within a project. What they're expected to own, deliver and do.
→ Tip: A good exercise is to write one sentence for each role on the team that starts with: "This role is accountable for..." Then share it with the team and see where it sparks debate or confusion. That’s where clarity is missing.
Safe Teams Work Better
You can have the best processes in the world, but if your team doesn’t feel safe to speak up, take initiative, or admit mistakes, it’s game over.
Psychological safety is the foundation of a high-performing team.
When people feel safe, they:
Share ideas early (even the rough ones that turn into great ones)
Ask questions instead of guessing wrong
Flag risks before they become issues
One of the easiest ways to build this? Regular retrospectives or feedback loops that aren’t performative. Actually act on what’s shared. Even if it’s small.
CASE STUDY
We've recently created an employee pulse for a client, a really simple, regular pulse check of what's going on in the business, how people feel about the company and their work.
→ Tip: Start with: “What’s one thing slowing you down right now?” and “What’s one thing we should keep doing?”—and genuinely listen.
Final Thought
Productivity isn’t about squeezing more juice out of people—it’s about removing the things that stop them doing their best work.
If you focus on structure, clarity, and safety—not just effort—you’ll be surprised how much more your team can achieve, without burning out.
Want help on all of this or tips to find out how to resolve any issues you may have here?
We can do that for FREE. Book a free Ops Audit, tell us your biggest bottleneck and we'll give a solution on the call.
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