Would you rather listen instead? Click here for a the 4-minute audio recording
Are you guilty of duplicated efforts?
Go America! The US leads the way in duplication of work with over 6 hours a week of duplicated efforts. (Source: Asana Anatomy of Work).
Why? Not enough clarity on who owns what and a lack of clear deadlines. Another pitfall? Too many people in your meetings.
The first place to start to look at redundancies is your meetings. Do you have more than one team member represented at cross-functional meetings? This often happens with start-ups or rapidly growing companies. What used to just have one layer now has three. It made sense for Sharon to be at the Tuesday meeting before, but now she has Craig working for her, and he could attend in her place.
Give them their time back or give up the FOMO and remove yourself.
Do you have too many cooks in the kitchen? Do you find it hard to come to conclusions? The Rule of 7 states that for every person over seven in a meeting, decision-making decreases by 10%.
If you aren't using a project management system where people can edit documents live and see what's being done, you may have duplicated efforts. Getting away from the inbox as an assignment and task tool will allow you to see what's going on in real-time. Using a program like Asana or ClickUp, I can see all of our projects' status and assigned tasks. I can add others as collaborators or followers, so it's clear who needs to be doing and who is deciding or approving.
Duplicated efforts are costing companies money and leading to employee frustration. Challenge yourself for one week to find redundancy in a meeting. One person who can be let go that is more of a nice-to-have. Spend 30 minutes researching your project management system and start using it, rather than managing over email. There will be a learning curve, but it sometimes takes time to save yourself more time later, and the results will be worth it in the end. Save money, save time, and increase work satisfaction.
