A strong work team is marked by a mix of employees who are dedicated, proactive, solutions-oriented, supportive, and always willing to help each other out. Above all else, successful team members have got to be productive and accountable.
Good managers encourage productivity and accountability by being motivating leaders and by knowing when to step in to lend an extra hand. Managers can’t do it alone, though.
In a work environment that encourages independent thinking and ‘managers of one’, what can be done to increase the rate of productivity?
For one thing, you can put everything in plain view, with dashboards.
What you accomplish with dashboards
Aside from streamlining your business and keeping sensitive data organized, BrightGauge dashboards just keep things real. They are comprised of gauges that analyze data and key performance indicators (KPIs) of your choosing, in real-time. The data you view syncs automatically, so everything you see is current.
This means you can’t hide from hard facts. Visible data takes employee performance and hangs it out to dry, where everyone can take a peek. See how many support tickets Jane has resolved today. Look into stats behind a customer account to see why they might’ve churned. It’s all there with the right integrations.
Accountability becomes a given
When the truth is out in the open and accessible, the only option is to be accountable. You have no choice but to own up to everything you do, both good and bad. And that’s awesome.
It’s true what they say - when you have no lies to hide behind, it kind of sets you free. It allows you to say, “This is who I am and this is what I’ve done” and it motivates you to always perform to the best of your abilities because, honestly, we’re humans and we like looking good in front of our peers. With accountability comes the acceptance and awareness of where improvements are needed.
It becomes easier to push for productivity
Visual cues are really powerful. If your boss is trying to raise $10,000 for an important cause, and verbally tells you she’s raised $5,600 so far, that’s cool. If she shows you a gauge that gets filled in with green with each dollar raised, that’s even better! It becomes almost like a game to completely fill in the gauge and there’s an actual emotional response that comes along with fulfilling your goal.
It’s the same with work (or even personal) goals. If Jane’s goal is to respond to tickets within 30 minutes of receiving them, and her average response time is displayed on dashboards on flat-screen TVs around her office, you better believe that she’s going to do everything she can to get that average time down to 29 minutes or less. She’s going to be incredibly motivated to help her company meet important goals and to set new personal records. This is a win-win for all.
It’s important to motivate, not discourage
BrightGauge dashboards serve two main purposes: they put your KPIs on display in one easy-to-access place, and they motivate teams. Remember that: motivation is key.
Using KPIs to track employee and company goals is smart. But turning that data against team members is dangerous. Nobody should be discouraged or shamed for their performance and goals do not have to be strictly set in stone, forever (glaring or repeated issues are an exception, of course).
Instead, dashboards should be used as a barometer for health and as a conversation starter. We believe that regular check-ins and reviews help a company remain profitable and efficient, and the data gathered from dashboards can help kick off those check-ins.
If applied correctly, dashboards and goals act as a guiding light for employees, rather than as a point of pressure.
Dashboard Best Practices
Some quick tips to optimally using dashboards for productivity and accountability:
- Be upfront with KPIs so that every employee has insight into company goals
- Encourage employees to come up with their own goals; this emphasizes the importance of being accountable
- Use our rotating dashboards feature to get a complete view of all your important data and to drive productivity
- Schedule regular, honest check-ins with your team to make sure nothing is falling through the cracks
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