PROCESS OPTIMISATION

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3 min read

Optimising work processes to achieve the most out of your work hours

 

The lack of simple and effective work processes can make employees frustrated and negatively affects productivity. Imagine if you want to get a cup of coffee and you have to do 20 things to satisfy your caffeine needs - you might give up halfway or get so irritable that the experience ends up being an undesirable one.

Some processes could be legacy Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that might be created some time ago and due for an update for efficiency; however, because of how ingrained these processes are, any proposed changes might be hard to implement.

There can be many reasons why processes are not optimised, and yet people’s resistance to change does not help with the situation. However, it should be noted that things will not miraculously fix itself, and that you have the best view and understanding of the processes you use and own - if you improve them, you will enjoy the benefits of it.

 

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To kick start the initiative of process optimisation, here are some questions you may want to ask yourself as you are going through your typical work day:

 

  1. Am I spending too much time on this task?

  2. Do I constantly feel frustrated at work? Is it when I am working on a specific task? Are there many obstacles when I am working on that task?

  3. For each of my tasks, do I have a say in changing the process for the task? Is there anyone should I approach to get more buy-in to change processes?

 
One action to try tomorrow

 

It is most critical to optimise processes especially for tasks that you would do regularly, i.e., not ad hoc, as you will reap greater benefits from optimising them. Here are some things you can do almost immediately:

  1. Identify one recurring task that you do regularly (and perhaps a rather frustrating task) and lay out the processes for the specific task in a flow chart

  2. Mark out areas on the flow chart that you find yourself struggling with and think of things you can possibly do to change these areas.
     

  3. Schedule a time and present the issues with the current process, the amount of time saved for other purposes (opportunity cost) and your solutions to any stakeholders that you need buy-in for to get the changes approved.

 

 

“

Efficiency is doing better than what is already being done.

 

– Peter Drucker

 

 

 

 

It is helpful to think about how to set better goals and how goal setting motivates you.

Here are other suggested readings for you:

 

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