How can we improve efficiency in our workplace? This is a common question being asked by many managers. Many say that improving efficiency is becoming harder and harder, because most of the easier solutions have been already implemented.
Doing more with less has worked for a while, but most workplaces are having difficulty keeping their heads above water. Many say that the volume of work is increasing, while the number of people available to do the work is staying the same. There is a limit on how much work each person can do, and in a lot of workplaces this limit has been reached.
Technology has contributed to some efficiency improvements. In particular, information technology has made it easier to connect with other people and to access software tools at a convenient time and place. However, a lot of technology use has been to automate manual processes to keep work flowing with less effort, but does little to directly improve overall coordination efficiency.
A major limiting factor in increasing efficiency is the amount of time and effort required to keep work coordinated and aligned to goals. This varies from workplace to workplace. But it is required at every level of management; strategic, operational, tactical, team and personal. Personal time management has a major effect on efficiency, because people achieve goals and influence the amount of coordination required.
For 20 years, TASKey has been working on a solution that gives each person a simple list of the things they need to do, so they can use their time efficiently. Most importantly, this list is dynamically connected to the strategies, project, governance and other tasks required in their workplace. So when something changes at a higher level that affects a person, they are immediately notified and can optimise their time management at the ToDo level.
When the people doing the work are explicitly connected to what the organisation and workplace needs, significant improvements in efficiency follow. Consequently TASKey has developed and validated web and mobile software that automates alignment, coordination and progress reporting in workplaces ranging from small teams and SME’s, to large organisations and beyond.
Rework and waiting for other people to do their part of a workflow is significantly reduced. By providing each person with the timely information they need, everyone can be more efficient. It eliminates the need to waste a lot of time sorting out what is relevant and coordinating with other people. The effect on a workplace is equivalent to adding extra people.
Another bonus is that tracking and recording what has actually been done creates workflows and business processes that can be reused or updated to save even more time. The fact that the software does most of the hard, boring, frustrating, stressful, non value adding work in the background for you, means that you and other team members have more time to do an even better job.