The first month of 2022 is here, with all the new goals, projects, and probably team organization. As we all enter the new year with hopes and expectations, business leaders also would like to witness positive changes in their organization. If you’re managing a business or leading a team, you might be wondering how you could boost the team’s morale for the first quarter of 2022. As you evaluate your team members’ performance, you also need to think of ways to positively motivate them. We understand that motivating employees can be a tough job, so here are five tips to boost your team’s productivity in 2022.

1. Set Clear Goals

Measuring productivity can be done in a lot of ways, one of which is taking a look at how much a project is completed. If your team can complete a project successfully and on time, it means that your team is productive enough. Therefore, from the very beginning, leaders should set clear goals so that the team’s productivity can be measured. In fact, unclear project goals can result in either wasted or low productivity, as vague objectives lead to 37% of failed business projects, according to PMI Pulse of the Professional. On the contrary, clear goals are found to improve productivity by 11 – 25%, according to research by Latham and Locke.

2. Give Constructive Feedback

Your team members would probably like to receive feedback more than you think. According to Officevibe.com, 96% of workers would love getting regular feedback. During performance review, giving feedback is the best opportunity to increase your team members’ productivity, as long as the feedback is relevant, constructive, and positive. This is supported by research, too, as researchers found useful feedback can lead to 16% increase in productivity. Feedback that is given with accuracy and consistency can also uplift 8% of your employees’ morale, making them feel satisfied with their jobs.

3. Build A Peer System

Speaking of constructive feedback, there’s no better person for an employee to receive feedback from than their peers. Therefore, if you need to boost your team’s productivity, you can build a healthy peer system where its members can do peer feedback and coaching. In Medium.com, Oview even found that hierarchy can be an obstacle for productivity.  After all, an employee’s potential can sometimes be better recognized by his or her peers. In addition, a good peer system can become a support circle for employees, improving their resilience when there are factors that can lower their productivity.

4. Recognize Achievements

Have you given enough credits to your employees? Officevibe.com reported that 63% of employees did not feel that they received enough acknowledgement. In fact, one of the top reasons why people leave their jobs is because they feel underappreciated. Deloitte found that recognizing your employee’s hard work and achievement can boost engagement, performance, and productivity by 14%. Additionally, acknowledging the works of a hardworking employee can also create a positive loop for productivity, as 92% of workers who get recognition for a specific action are more likely to act the same way, according to Apollo Technical. 

5. Understand Your Team

Last but not least, great leaders will try to understand their team’s needs, especially when their morale and productivity are low. In the case of performance measurement, you might want to ask your employees about what kind of aspects or reviews they need. If necessary, you might want to consider skipping performance review altogether, as several statistics suggest that the time invested for performance appraisal simply isn’t worth it. According to SyncHR, only 20% of employees expect their managers to give positive feedback, and 88% of managers think that the time used for performance review could have been used for something else.

When it comes to boosting your team’s productivity in 2022, there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account. Briefly speaking, it’s a matter of positive attitude that you can bring to your team, as positive improvements in productivity can only start with a positive outlook. Motivating your team members can be done in a lot of ways. In case of performance reviews, we believe that the best ways to do it are by doing the five key actions mentioned above: setting clear objectives, sharing positive & relevant feedback, creating a support system, acknowledging your team’s work, and understanding what your team needs.