Running a team isn’t always smooth sailing. Unexpected obstacles can often arise resulting in even the best laid plans suddenly going awry.
Problems truly begin to bubble up when a workforce becomes an organisational mess.
A lack of coordination and order across a company can render a fast decision making process obsolete. Removing the ability to gauge a status update at a glance makes it more challenging to identify and jump on emerging opportunities.
A disorganised team, or process, can actually become a blocker to progress.
In this regard, faster than anticipated growth can sometimes be a double edged sword. Structural process and organisation can easily fall by the wayside as the business charges forward.
Equally, long standing operations can create a disconnect as more and more systems become layered over one another. Communications break down as simple interactions become protracted and the business structure struggles to move with the times.
So how can you organise a disconnected workforce?
What measures can you implement to ensure your workforce runs like a well oiled machine?
To build the most efficient and effective team you need to have crystal clear visibility and a robust process. Only then can you ensure everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet.
Here are three top tips from Anthill on how to organise a disconnected workforce and get the best out of your team.
1 – Empower Your People
Whether you’re thinking big picture or simply in the day to day, empowering your people to make decisions and prioritise tasks helps to ensure a smooth running, cohesive organisation.
When decisions on which tasks matter most are made higher up the chain of command, the reality of a situation can often be distorted.
You hired your teams for a reason, so you should trust them right?
Allow them to manage their workload in the way that works best for them to get the job done.
In addition to speeding up decisions and helping mould future managers, this will also instil a sense of ownership throughout your entire team.
Creating bespoke dashboards in Anthill provides each individual, or role, across an organisation with the live, laser-focused information they need to make the right decisions. All they need is the data to do so.
By empowering each team member to focus on what’s important to them, they won’t get distracted by things that aren’t.
Surplus effort quickly falls by the wayside when a clear path to achieving individual goals is laid before you.
2 – Transparency And Accountability
Transparency is key for success. Only when you can ascertain an accurate image of your operations can you identify areas for improvement and areas to double down on.
This is impossible with a disconnected workforce.
Encouraging communication helps to facilitate knowledge sharing. By allowing everyone in the organisation to learn from one another, they can act as one cohesive unit.
For senior leaders, transparency provides a birds eye view of the live state of play removing a reliance on time consuming reports which are out of date by the time they land on their desk.
Similarly, for managers and people on the frontline, getting an inside track from a colleague that has previously engaged with a prospective customer might just unearth the nugget of insight required to close the opportunity.
A consistent, robust workflow also helps promote accountability. Any gaps and missed steps are more easily highlighted and amended ensuring the team as a whole are providing everything they should to those who need it.
Instead of siloed departments, transparency and accountability across a business promotes a collective culture with each participant pulling in the same direction.
3 – Organise A Disconnected Workforce Around Outcomes
Focus your organisational efforts on outcomes. You’ve entrusted your team with their responsibilities and provided the opportunity to communication.
Now is the time to gear everything toward your ultimate, collective aims.
Rather than getting bogged down in the detail, a business can consider the bigger picture by coming up for air.
By embracing a continuous process of improvement, you can regularly review the outcomes you’re aiming for. In turn this allows your to identify and improve areas requiring enhancement before they spiral out of control.
Achieving your goals and targets becomes that much easier.
Work backwards from the outcome and identify the steps required to get there. Translate these across to a robust process and empower your people to get the job done.
Removing the mess will allow your organisation to breathe. After all, innovation never emerges from a stifled, disconnected company.
To organise a disconnected workforce you simply must eliminate the roadblocks.
Trust your team. Enable simple, fast communication, Build your process around the desired outcome.
Only then can you accelerate your growth.
Intrigued to learn more? Check out our Insights Hub to keep your business at the cutting edge.
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- May 13th, 2021