Blog
3 Bonus Tips for Optimizing Your Internal Workflows
Fri Oct 27, 2023
If your team is looking for advice on optimizing your internal workflows and improving productivity, we can help! We work with teams both big and small and have noticed some recurring patterns in daily business that set teams back.
As both a solution and technology provider, UniTech works hard to brainstorm ways that we can best assist our clients. One of the ways we can help is to offer you these tips on optimizing workflows based on what we’ve experienced while helping to improve the productivity of businesses like yours.
Here are our top 3 tips for optimizing your business’s internal workflows!
1: Turning On Automatic Updates
Automatic updates are meant to install patches, alterations, and fixes to the software of the devices and programs that you use. It’s a handy tool that can take the stress out of your day and help keep your team working productively.
Unfortunately, if they’re always being put off and forgotten about, your team could be left vulnerable to cyberattacks.
This is true of manual updates, which are all too easy to ignore. Updates take time to download and install, which can cause perceived interruptions to your tasks and workflows. As a result, many people will click the “Not Now” option if prompted to perform an update. But delaying these updates in such a way sets your team up for serious problems in the future.
With automatic updates turned off, you run the risk of facing cyberattacks and data theft. The further behind you are on your updates, the more vulnerable your team will be. Each new update comes with the latest upgrades to security features, as the digital landscape is forever changing and new threats are constantly cropping up. With automatic updates, you ensure that your business is prepared to face the newest challenges that are out there.
On the flip side, if the update isn’t set to install automatically then your team could experience severe consequences. Systems that are outdated are easier for cybercriminals to target, as they can take advantage of the gaps in your devices’ security.
If you want to know what our number one pick for improving workflows is, it’s turning on automatic updates. Security is everything, as the data that you work with is the foundation of all that you do! We say peace of mind is worth waiting on an update for.
2: Review and Optimize Your Daily Processes
People are creatures of habit, especially in the workplace. Once someone gets used to something, it can be hard for them to shake up their routine. But that just might be the thing that your team needs to improve your workflows. Without knowing it, teams can accidentally form bad habits, unintentionally landing themselves in productivity ruts.
Though it might not be the easiest thing to do, sitting down with your team and figuring out what processes are working, and which ones aren’t is one of the best ways to get more time back in your day. We’re not talking just a few minutes either! With better processes in place to support your team, you can earn hours back in your week.
When reviewing your processes, consider these important questions:
- What tools are we using to complete this task?
- How much time each day or week does it take to perform this task?
- Do we know of other tools or processes available to us which might make things easier?
- How long would it take to change up the routine?
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Does the current routine cause undue stress to the team as a whole?
From automation to streamlining tasks, there are many ways that you can improve your daily processes. Other methods for optimization include using outside solutions that will manage some of your team’s daily burdens. This includes things like:
Remember that whatever new processes you choose, you need to work closely with each department in your organization, as a single change in routine can affect more than just one team.
3: Adopt Asynchronous Communication Styles
Though it might sound like a super fancy thing, adopting asynchronous communication styles is actually very simple. It’s probably something you already do to an extent without even realizing it! Asynchronous communication is just another way of saying “conversations that happen in the background.” Email is a great example of this. You can write and send an email at whatever time in your day is most convenient to you. The email can then reach its intended straight away, but it doesn’t have to be responded to until it’s convenient for them. That’s asynchronous communication in action!
There are many effective tools that your team can use to promote this style of communication. From email to project management tools like Asana and Monday, the more you remove the need for immediate response the more you create comfortable and focused work environments. All this while always keeping the lines of communication open.
Pairing this style of communication with instant messaging can be useful, especially for hybrid workplaces! Just be careful that your team knows the difference between something that needs an immediate response and something that can wait.
As with any changes to the workplace, it’s important that you sit down with your team and have an open discussion about expectations. From there, implementing asynchronous communication will be simple and its uses universally understood by your entire business.
If you’re looking for more helpful optimization tips, check out our previous blog about the 5 Solutions to Optimize Your Internal Workflows.
Ready to help your team improve your internal workflows? Our technology and solutions experts at UniTech can help. Contact us to learn more.