Most Common Workflow Challenges Businesses Are Facing (and How to Fix Them)

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Workflow should constantly be monitored. It doesn’t require specific time spent assessing it every week, but it should be on everyone’s radar when working. Bottlenecks occur for numerous reasons, procedures and outdated technology can represent primary issues. This can result in employees feeling stifled when working, and raising anxiety about being targeted as the problem when in fact it’s a workflow issue.

A few common issues appear across multiple industries. Thankfully these can be easy to find when following work procedures or asking employees.

 

Incompatible Systems and Solutions

 

Automation and streamlining tasks are at the top of every business’ list. It feels like there is a software solution for everything, but not every solution is compatible. While they might be the best for a certain task, they might not synergize well with other systems you have in place.

Incompatible file formats, data accessibility and any solutions that require an email transaction to be handed over are creating bottlenecks. There are even still places that involve a paper based process, this is not only wasteful but also inefficient.

The best way to handle this is to have a bespoke solution created by an experienced development team. They can create a solution to encompass existing software and also suggest areas for improvement. Go paperless, provide live data access and leverage the power of instant transition of documents without the need to wait for confirmation from others.

 

Remote Worker Collaboration

 

The work from home meta is here. Businesses will see a rising number of employees working from home. Some will have opted to do so while others might be employed that way from the start. While this provides you with the best talent possible and some freedom for employees it can affect workflow dramatically.

Time zones for businesses with an international team are troublesome. This is one of the most common workflow challenges and can be difficult to overcome completely. There are methods and solutions to combat the situation, which involve file and data access permissions controlled in a secure way.

Collaborative software with built in instant messaging or rooms can overcome most workflow issues. Solutions like Trello for example are a good example of collaboration, but fall short for some businesses that require more data handling and access. This can be built in or incorporated into custom workflow solutions and be vastly beneficial.

 

Meetings

 

Not everything has to be a meeting. Decisions should be made, which don’t require an hour long meeting that interrupts multiple key workers. Close to half of employees surveyed agree that meetings are the biggest waste of time. So why do so many businesses insist on having weekly or multiple meetings to discuss minor issues?

Unnecessary meetings cost businesses money more than they save. An effective strategy for meetings can solve more substantial issues, but while meetings might seem productive things often don’t get solved and get deferred to another meeting. Consider implementing meeting-free-days and classify employees into a need-to-know basis and utilize leaders to delegate, not everyone in a team needs to attend.

Is your business facing any of these workflow challenges? Maybe you feel like you could optimize more? Whatever your issues, Axis Software Dynamics would like to support you, we are not only experienced software solution providers but provide consultations for any situation.

Contact us today and let’s improve your business workflow, all the way from the top to the bottom line.

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