The rise of remote work has presented unexpected challenges to businesses in 2020, especially when it comes to project management.
Rapid technological changes have changed the way that workforces communicate, collaborate, and mobilize to deliver projects. But how can leaders maximize productivity?
Although many businesses have increased their use of digital communication platforms, nearly 70% of project leaders still believe that Covid has affected their ability to produce deliverables.
Businesses are being forced to reevaluate how they coordinate their teams across multiple channels due to the proliferation of disparate technology.
Stocking up on the latest apps won’t make your business future-proof. Let’s examine what drives these business decisions and how they impact project outcomes. We can also see why tools from the past are so valuable in overcoming today’s challenges.
Is it really more?
Most businesses acquire digital tools as they become necessary for specific projects.
Teams will often look for the best tool to solve their problems. However, this can lead to businesses adopting a wide range of collaboration and communication technologies to suit niche uses.
Further down the line, project team members encounter friction when it is time to integrate these tools and maintain their functionality alongside each other. This is the second wave in digital adoption for businesses. It is the point where previously specialised tools don’t work as well as they were intended.
Leaders need to review their technology toolbox and develop a formal strategy. For example, project teams must report on progress in order to give their business a complete view of performance metrics, timelines and resource allocation.
If the tools used for tracking these are not compatible across companies, it can cause delays. In a world where real-time insight is crucial for decision making, project managers need to have streamlined reporting and communication.
Boosting efficiency leads to greater productivity
Business leaders must consider the value of different operations when managing projects from multiple stakeholders and teams. However, they will ultimately have to make a decision about which tools will best meet their needs.
While creating a comprehensive system requires careful analysis and compromise, it is essential that someone is able to determine this in order to minimize confusion and distract from unnecessary distractions.
67% of UK workers lose 2.5 hours per week to ineffective digital tools. People are also constantly distracted at work due to the increasing number of communication apps.
This has a dramatic impact on productivity and makes communication tools useless. It also prevents teams from prioritising success.
Business leaders can reduce disruption and improve productivity by streamlining their digital tools and leveraging intuitive, easily accessible technologies.
Reducing to the basics
Project teams must improve their digital toolkit in order to speed up decision making and deliver project deliverables on time.
Live dashboards and modernized Gantt charts can be used to provide quick, efficient solutions for automated project updates. This will allow stakeholders to stay informed of progress.
My team worked with Mallol Arquitectos an architecture firm, a Scoro client. We helped consolidate all information in one place, greatly increasing the chances of project success.
The firm used to pull this information from six data pools. Sometimes, it would take an entire day.
