Part of HR’s role is helping employees become more productive and more effective. One of the common complaints from employers is poor productivity. We are all busy these days and many employees struggle to manage their workload. Their “to do” lists seem to throb balefully and never gets any shorter, however hard they try.

Addiction is an ugly word, but research tells us that on average millennials spend more than two hours a day using their phone, checking it around 157 times. 18% of social media users can’t go more than a few hours without checking their social media platforms.

When people want to learn a skill, turning to colleagues for help is often the first thing they do. And that’s a great way to do it. Acquiring knowledge from colleagues is very well suited to the way people learn. We absorb skills and knowledge; practice by applying them; get feedback; and think about what has been learned. Learning from our colleagues encompasses all of these.

I expect you know that if you smile the world smiles with you? It’s true! And if you work with people who are optimistic and cheerful, you’re more likely to feel upbeat too. On the other hand, if your colleagues are stressed and unhappy you’re more likely to be affected.

In most companies there comes a point when if you want to grow, you recognise that you have to bring in more resource. But when do you reach that point? It’s very common to hear complaints about high volumes of work. But as the team leader, how do you know whether you need more people, or whether the team could be working more efficiently?