For many organizations, maintaining and improving team productivity is a real challenge. While there are many theories on how to best improve existing workflows and boost productivity, implementing those theories is not always a straightforward thing to do.
Every organization is different, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some universal improvement tips that can help improve workflows and productivity. Better project management, better team structure, and other tactics we are about to discuss in this article will help you get started right away.
Structure Teams Correctly
The structure of the organization and how teams are organized play an important role in determining overall productivity. When you have workflows that require the involvement of multiple teams or members of those teams, creating a structure that facilitates better collaboration becomes a necessity rather than an option.
The team structure needs to facilitate efficient workflows, and not the other way around. If you already have established workflows in the organization, doing a thorough review and making adjustments to the organizational chart are the first steps to take in order to improve office productivity. You can eliminate a lot of bottlenecks with these simple steps alone.
It is also a good idea to check if cross-function collaborations can happen smoothly. Rather than a deep, multi-branch structure, streamlined and lean team structures work better when these types of collaborations are frequently needed. There is no need to direct communications through managers and heads when squads are more functional.
Form Tactical Squads
Speaking about squads, forming tactical squads to handle specific projects is another thing that can be done to boost workflows and improve productivity. Yes, squad members are still responsible to their respective division leaders, but they can work more closely with other squad members from different divisions in getting projects done quickly and efficiently.
The added focus on specific projects also helps. Squads who are handling specific projects are more likely to save time, energy, and resources than native teams or divisions working together. After all, having to focus on specific objectives help squads form new and better workflows to achieve them, even in the most difficult situations.
At the same time, squads represent a better way to organize projects and allocate resources. When the organization has limited resources to work with, the same team member can be a part of multiple squads, minimizing the need to switch focus and functions to a certain degree. Improvement in efficiency is to be expected this way.
Adopt Better Project Management
The next thing to do if you want to improve workflows and boost productivity is adopt better project management. The Kanban system is a fantastic way to manage tasks and projects, and there are now multiple tools to use if you want to adopt the system in a flexible way. With tasks represented by cards on a visual, digital board, it is also much easier to track the progress of the project.
There are a lot of questions surrounding the use of Kanban as a method. Is Kanban agile? Is Kanban suitable for non-IT projects? Kanbanize, which offers the best digital Kanban tool for better project management, answers the question, ‘Is Kanban agile’ and they have a comprehensive article on how you can integrate Kanban system and the advantages it offers.
Adopting the Kanban system has another benefit: you can manage workloads more meticulously. Kanbanize as a digital Kanban board offers multiple ways to measure and manage workloads or team members. You also get the ability to analyze your workflows in great detail, which means you’ll have more opportunities to improve them.
The Right Tools
Kanbanize and its digital Kanban board is not the only tool you can use to boost workflows and improve productivity. Other tools, particularly those that offer automation, are also incredibly handy in this situation. Zapier, for instance, allows you to automate many repetitive tasks, allowing team members to focus on the more challenging tasks.
Good communications through Slack are another thing that can help productivity. When work-related messages are organized and easy to search, team members can always find the information they need to remain effective. Other tools such as HubSpot are handy for specific reasons. Even the right desktop and mobile apps can be invaluable to productivity.
The important thing to do when adding new tools to your arsenal is making sure that they integrate well with each other. Rather than adding more silos and making it difficult to share information, you need tools that work well and can exchange data, automate routines, and be used in a unified and seamless way.
Last, but certainly not least, make sure you treat finding ways to boost workflows and increase productivity as a process rather than a one-time thing. There will be more ways to boost productivity as you analyze processes within the organization further. These tips we discussed in this article will help you get started in no time.
