Unlocking smarter ways to work

Sanj Bhayro at Asana explains why simply sticking to what’s been done before is preventing a smarter way to work

With news of growth in the UK economy, business leaders have an opportunity to set themselves up for greater efficiency and innovation. At the core of making this possible is rethinking workplace processes and moving beyond simply replicating what has been done before. Leaders should seek to simplify their operations and bring teams together, ultimately unlocking a smarter way to work.

Before we dive into the strategies behind this, let me first set the scene of where the modern workplace isn’t quite working smoothly.

The problem of digital distraction

The raft of workplace technologies currently available is nothing short of remarkable. But technology doesn’t always make people more efficient. When deployed without strategy, complex tech stacks can actually do more harm than good.

Currently, teams are inundated with an array of digital tools with little guidance on how to use them. Research from Asana’s Work Innovation Lab has found that workers spend an average of 57 minutes per workday just switching between collaboration tools, with two-thirds (64%) of workers reporting digital exhaustion.

Such ‘digital overwhelm’ is starting to have knock on effects. Our research shows that over-tooling is causing almost a quarter of enterprise employees to be less efficient, 20% to have a reduced attention span, and 19% to miss messages and updates from teammates. This inefficient way of working cannot continue if businesses wish to grow.

Deploy a data-driven tech strategy

Many businesses have been guilty of overindulging in their tech stacks as a makeshift solution to encourage productivity and communication across distributed teams. Unfortunately, this is rarely thoughtfully considered. As a result, workers are siloed within their specific teams, overwhelmed with too many apps, and wasting too much time chasing updates and looking for information – in other words, ‘busywork.’

Instead, enterprise leaders need tools that connect the work being done across individuals and teams to broader company goals, in order to drive outcomes and revenue.

According to our research, 74% of knowledge workers would prefer everyone in their organisation use the same set of core collaboration technologies. Businesses must think more strategically about their tech stack, selecting a streamlined set of tools that provide the insights they need, alongside the standardisation workers are asking for. After all, technology should decrease the coordination cost of work, not add to it.

Using data-driven tools that provide a fully-connected, accurate, and up-to-date map of work within an organisation, gives individuals and teams the clarity and confidence they need to move faster within a streamlined tech stack.

Realising the ideal tech stack

The challenge with using different collaboration tools is the creation of silos, risk of duplication and the tax of context switching - all of which are detrimental to productivity. Utilising a single work management platform provides a central source of truth so there’s no endless search for information or chance to miss important updates.

Teams are also granted a real-time view of top priorities, clarity around accountability and deadlines, and understanding around how work is being done across an organisation. This helps to map out how individuals can best prioritise and support wider company goals.

It is this sense of teamwork that offers genuine growth opportunities – as successful cross-functional collaboration correlates to revenue growth. Our research revealed that 55% of workers with ‘good’ collaboration in their workplace reported revenue growth over the past three years – almost double that of organisations deemed non-collaborative.

Furthermore, a significant 79% of workers at collaborative organisations reported feeling well prepared to respond to challenges (four times higher than weak collaborators) –highlighting how collaboration empowers workers to become more adaptable and flexible.

Of course, it would be remiss not to touch on the new technology that is revolutionising tech stacks across all industries: artificial intelligence (AI). Data from Asana’s Work Innovation Lab reveals that over a third (36%) of employees in the US and UK now harness AI at least weekly for tasks such as data analysis and creative brainstorms.

There is huge potential for AI to help teams work together more effectively, and free up resources for more strategic activity. For example, it can be used to summarise project statuses and identify potential bottlenecks before they become a problem. However, deployment of the technology must be ‘human-centric,’ in other words, balancing human skills with AI capabilities.

Harnessing AI’s potential is more than a technological challenge; it’s a strategic priority for businesses of all sizes. Leaders must assuage concerns, unite teams around a shared vision, and ensure the right guiding principles are in place for AI and teams to flourish together.

Food for thought, and a chance for progress

As organisations intensify their pursuit of optimum productivity, leaders will need to champion the most effective tools in helping teams deliver on company priorities and goals. At the core of this is standardising tools, consolidating tech stacks, and deploying new technologies such as AI.

Leaders must be highly attuned to the morale and capacity of their teams and understand how collaboration is happening across their company, and then invest in technology designed to support cross-functional work. Only through such data-led audits and decision-making can we truly maximise productivity and unlock a smarter way to work.

Sanj Bhayro is General Manager of EMEA at Asana, a web and mobile work management platform designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work; information on Asana’s WorkGraph tool is available here

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and champpixs