Managing productivity is a key responsibility of leaders. A team leader oversees the workloads of others while handling her/his personal production. Often there is a climate of interruptions and distractions that clash with the ability to focus on tasks and projects. As a supervisor you should come to the fore and seek ideas to alter the situation.

Jennifer Miller at SmartBrief.com in “How to Reduce the Sugar Rush of Organizational Life” recommends four ways leaders can reclaim control of their team’s productivity.

How to reduce the sugar rush of organizational life

It’s a familiar lament at work: We can’t get anything done because we’re all so busy interacting. Cheese’s, moving frenetically from one activity to the next. Organizational leaders are both peddlers of the sugar (forwarding countless texts and emails to team members) and overwhelmed kiddos (being summoned yet again to lead a time-suck of a project.) “Interruptions and unforeseen events consume much of our time in the twenty-first century because they can reach out and find us anywhere” says long-time productivity expert Hyrum W. Read more…

I would add two strategies to Jennifer’s list. At the start of staff meetings, ask everyone to turn their cell phones off. If someone is waiting for an important call, they can keep their phone in silent mode.

Most cell phones give you the option to give a canned automatic response to text messages that notifies the sender you’re in a meeting. After 2-3 times most of the employees will get that reading text messages and phone rings during meetings are offensive.

Remember, you have to walk the talk. So, texting in a meeting (if it’s your meeting or not) is a “no-no”. Your teammates are watching to see if you lead by doing or saying.

Today’s technology creates hyperactivity or doing things without thinking about the results or impact on others. Managers have an obligation to create an organizational culture conducive to productivity.