Maximizing Your Startup’s Productivity – 5 Actionable Steps

Originally published by All Top Startups. Reposted with permission.

Productivity and efficiency are common problem areas for start-ups. Sadly, most podcasts, blog posts, and in-person speeches repeat themselves.

The adage says you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time. Fixing everything at once is likely to fail. We sought to uncover actionable ideas that could be useful for your company in the next few years.

Before we begin, choose your efficiency and productivity goals. The better way is to focus on an issue, choose a conclusion you’re happy with, and commit to returning to “perfect” later. Build the foundation using that cornerstone.

Contents: 5 tips to maximize productivity in a hybrid office:

Document Everything

Create a clear structure

Task-based collaboration

Change the pain points

Have a developmental approach

1. Document Everything

“Bus plans” are ideal now. “If I got struck by a bus today, could someone else learn what I know?” They don’t have to replace you immediately. No one should be the sole source of information. Starting with documentation helps boost startup productivity. Does documentation affect productivity? Consider hiring. 

How much time will you save pointing them to a wiki? How many meetings can you avoid by catching someone up with past work and results? Not to mention the time wasted searching an office for someone who knows a certain piece of information.

We advise documenting practically everything. As a startup, hiring a receptionist to document these things can drill a hole in your pocket. 

But you can use visitor check-in software to help here. Visitor management software is effective because it can handle legal paperwork, ID cards, badges, and keycards, in addition to basic visitor activity tracking, which is now standard practice in guest management.

Other than giving you information about who dropped in, using software like this can leave a lasting impression on the people who come to your office. 

2. Create a Clear Structure

The structure may scare some startups. Please wait while we explain. It can move. Structure doesn’t preclude “flat” organizations. It aids productivity. Structure says, “you’re welcome to have a voice in this project, but you’re accountable for completing this one.”

Wearing numerous hats in the early days of a startup can be vital but confusing. It’s demoralizing to report at Monday morning standup that you didn’t finish something because you were too busy. Most startup employees struggle to avoid this “culture of activity.” People who sacrifice all for output are lauded. 

You can be productive without sacrificing everything else. Structure aids in prioritization. Collaboration aids completion. Startup productivity depends on your actions.

3. Task-Based Collaboration

Task management solves many problems, yet teams waste so much potential. We all collaborate outside of work – at the water cooler, on Slack, or by email. When we need to reference a conversation, we have to search and hope we recall where it happened. Collaboration in task management software will save you so much misery.

Task management systems often become silos. Development, marketing, sales, and others have their own systems. Sharing knowledge, communication, and efficiency is difficult when components are passed around to fill needs. Opening these doors to collaboration should improve results and offer everyone a sense of ownership if everyone is working toward the same goal.

Invite only project participants. Because when the department is involved, the head doesn’t need project access. Individuals report and communicate their job.

Start new behaviors. Remember documentation? The task management software must record every conversation, regardless of location. The break room conversation or email thread must be written down and tagged. Task management tools enable meeting rethinking. Before scheduling your next meeting, consider if the task management platform can handle it. 

This strategy allows concentration, which is hard for everyone, even in task management. Use your “icebox” or “someday” column. Start with one thing in your active section and finish it before moving on. Even while working remotely, office routines are too distracting. Avoid distracting yourself with six or eight “in progress” items.

4. Change the Pain Points

Successful firms embrace change and pain to enhance procedures. Changing a business model or adopting a new tool can do that. First, assess your company’s adaptability.

Every employee should feel comfortable discussing issues. Veteran team members may miss the newcomer’s perspective. Promote speaking up. The biggest pain issue three months ago may have changed.

Team members should be empowered to suggest solutions. Some teams insist that you must present a solution alongside a problem. “You’re welcome to give solutions” isn’t always enough. Sometimes that should be “I want you to suggest solutions.”

5. Have a Developmental Approach

Agile? Kanban? Waterfall? Scrum? Development strategies can be difficult and personal. As your team grows, one strategy may work better. We can improve procedures by addressing pain spots. Making and sticking to a collective decision is crucial. Otherwise, expect chaos. 

However, productivity can be optimized in a few steps:
– Communicate daily/weekly/sprint goals.
– Communicate in task management.
– Predict bottlenecks.
– A little weird, but effective – hire millennials. 

According to research, millennial workers are highly productive at their jobs, in part because they are well-versed in the most recent information that streamlines the working process, makes the most of their time, and produces quality work that, of course, aids in the achievement of organizational objectives.

It’s feasible to work in your preferred system while integrating with the teams. If the team uses Kanban, but you prefer Agile, the main thing is that you finish your work. Your team may be flexible if your tactics aren’t disruptive or inefficient. 

There is a lot of work involved in launching a company from scratch and keeping it going. The world’s entrepreneurs and businesswomen face a wide variety of difficulties on a regular basis. They have to deal with problems like budgeting, hiring, and time management on a regular basis. However, often all that’s needed are tweaks here and there to processes to really see a big boost in productivity and efficiency.