Thriving in chaos might work for some but for most people disorder in the workplace can cause acute stress. A lack of streamlining can lead to lapses and productivity and leave you feeling overwhelmed in your day to day.
Your work processes are set up as a set of repeatable daily tasks that keep you moving forward. The problem is that without revision of the processes the workload can become mundane and filled with unnecessary tasks.
Simplification is key! We have put together a comprehensive list of ways to improve your work processes and get you streamlined today. Read on to learn more.
Identifying and Streamlining Work Processes
When you work to improve your daily task management you will quickly see results. There are many benefits to your business when you take the time to streamline. Here is a list of what to expect:
- Better time management
- Increase in productivity
- Increase in profits
- Better communication
- Less oversight
These are all positive reasons for you to streamline your work process today.
1. Overview of Current Work Processes
The only way to begin is to have a clear idea of exactly what the day to day processes entail. The goal is to fully understand each job or task that is performed and who is performing them.
Understanding precisely what is going on will help you identify if something is being done inefficiently or incorrectly.
Communicating with others in this stage is paramount. Listen to what is working and what isn’t.
In some cases you might find a work process that is already streamlined. This is a great opportunity for you to emulate that process.
2. Find Areas Needing Focus
Once you have analyzed the processes you should be able to identify the areas that will need focus.
Finding opportunities to improve will kickstart the new process. Keep an eye out for lack of motivation, tasks that are regularly left incomplete, communication issues, and misunderstood instructions.
Write these problem areas down in a list ranked from most needing help to least. Once you have a grasp on which processes are the most problematic then you can move forward in streamlining appropriately.
3. Prioritize the Workflow
After identifying all of the daily work processes make another list ranking the processes from most important to least important.
Doing this will allow you to focus on the tasks that may require more attention to detail. This in turn will help you maintain positive outcomes on a daily basis.
You should be able at this point to see clearly if there is a lot of handoffs in a specific work process or even too many people doing the same task.
4. Keep Organized
Streamlining your workflow and trying to keep everything in your head just won’t work. Organization needs to be a priority for your new processes.
Keep a chart of exactly what each task is and how it will be streamlined moving forward. List the steps of each process and highlight the areas needing the most focus so that you can easily glance at what needs improvement.
Keep all of your notes, charts, lists, etc in a central location so that you can consult them with ease.
5. Consider Automating Certain Processes
There are plenty of business process management software options available today. They work by streamlining already existing daily tasks.
For example, you might want to consider using a cloud phone system to streamline your daily calls. This interactive voice response system can greet your callers and then route your calls through the cloud.
Software like this can help your business efficiently manage communication with callers meaning you will never have another missed call again.
6. Test Your New Process
After creating new processes it is time for you to test the new workflow.
The new processes that you are considering implementing may sound good on paper, but until you see how they work in a realtime environment you would be able to fine-tune.
Consider implementing the new processes during a group project to see how everyone responds. This will help you identify the pros and cons of each process.
7. Open Communication
Getting feedback from peers and staff will help you decern what is working and what isn’t. Your colleagues may have feedback that will help you improve the processes even further.
Consider creating a survey to receive feedback on the new processes. There may be small details that are frequently overlooked that need more attention than you had initially thought.
8. Adust Accordingly
Nothing is ever going to perfect. Managing your expectations will help you keep focused on the goal clearly. Now that you are implementing the changes to the work process you will need to refine as you see fit.
Take the time to properly train employees and work together with your colleagues to fine-tune the new workflow.
Continue to maintain effectively communicating with the staff. Find out if there are any areas of frustration with the new processes. Identifying this early will help to ensure there are no issues down the road.
The New Workflow
Your work processes will always need refining here and there. Every so often you should be doing a soft overview of the new processes to make sure that they are still working effectively.
Always keep communication clear and open. Receiving feedback is a valuable tool for understanding what is and is not working. Having a streamlined and refreshed workflow will aid in your productivity and lead to an easier workday for everyone.
