4 Ways Process Automation Can Boost Remote Team Productivity
If you’re like many people in the tech world right now, there’s a good chance you’ve been forced to dive headfirst into fully remote work over the last several weeks.
And while those of us fortunate enough to have work should be grateful, for teams that aren’t used to operating fully remote, the transition can be jarring. It’s hard enough to find time for mission-critical tasks during normal operations, but during a global pandemic, it can feel downright impossible.
Thankfully, there are simple strategies you can employ today to free up valuable time for your remote workforce.
Eliminate Unnecessary Busy Work
First and foremost, eliminating unnecessary busy work is even more important when you have a newly remote team. When everyone is in the same office, it’s easier to sit down and think through the best way to automate time consuming processes. But when the entire team is remote, it can feel easier to just continue doing things the way they’ve always been done.
Why does HR email that spreadsheet to finance every day?
Well, finance needs fresh data every day, and that’s just the way we do it.
As a manager, a big part of your job is eliminating unnecessary work so your team can focus on what’s truly important.
There are simple tools that can help right away:
- Zapier, for example, has several plugins that can send automated alerts to Slack or your communication tool of choice anytime a Google Sheet is updated.
- These subtle automation hacks might seem simple, but they can really add up over the course of a week.
Make Meetings More Productive
It’s been fascinating to see teams all over the world find creative ways to build personal connections while working remotely. But unfortunately, being on a Zoom video instead of in a conference room doesn’t guarantee your meetings will be more productive.
That said, there are several automation tools available to help your team make the most out of every virtual meeting. For example, Zapier can help you integrate Google Calendar with Slack, setting automatic reminders to craft an agenda in advance of upcoming meetings. This integration can also be used to manage your calendar in a database like Stackby, helping you to stay on top of upcoming events when you have a packed schedule.
Never Forget to Follow Up
Creating an effective follow-up system is even more important when you don’t have the ability to simply stop by a colleague’s desk once in a while. Thankfully, there are many tools out there to help you automate follow-up with your team.
For example, Microsoft Power Automate (previously Microsoft Flow) makes it easy to set regularly recurring follow-ups within the Microsoft ecosystem:
- Automatically send yourself reminders at regularly scheduled intervals.
- Send a customised email whenever a new Sharepoint list item is added.
- Easily request or grant approval on changes to specific types of files.
Other project management suites like JIRA, Trello or Asana have similar capabilities. It’s simply a matter of finding the workflows that provide the most value for your team.
Reduce Redundancy
One of the most frustrating parts of working remotely can be navigating the various forms of communication. Between messaging apps, video conferencing software, email, phone calls, texting, etc, it’s easy to become bogged down by redundancy. Employees often find themselves duplicating communications across multiple channels, searching for lost messages, combing through project management tickets, and trying to remember what was said during various calls.
That’s why it’s important to set up communication guidelines with distributed teams:
- Keep action items in specific places, such as a dedicated project management board or Slack channel.
- Agree from the outset to document all follow-up in that channel.
- Agree upon a dedicated notetaker during every meeting, and ensure your team has an easily accessible repository of action-items.
Consider creating a simple document outlining appropriate workplace communication methods. This type of guide can go a long way towards reducing redundancy, even during more normal times.
Cut Yourself Some Slack
No matter what, transitioning to a fully remote environment is going to come with some challenges.
And that’s okay.
Finding workflows to suit your team will take some trial and error, so don’t be afraid to experiment. And perhaps most importantly, solicit feedback from your colleagues or employees on a regular basis.
What’s working well? What could be better?
Open and transparent communication with your team has never been more important.
If you have any questions about automating any of your business processes, or if this sounds like something your team could use help with, feel free to drop me a message at at james@ideaqu.com.