5 ways digital work management is driving a new productivity revolution

5 ways digital work
management is driving a
new productivity revolution
Team projects
This month
Working on it
Done
Working on it
StatusOwner Time Tracking Due Date
Launch new website
Podcast kickoff
Q2 summary - Mobile app
DoneSecurity report
Marketing plan
Create onboarding for new hire
08:45:00
01:37:10
00:48:30
02:12:40
02:09:12
00:28:32
Sep 1
Sep 29
Sep 18
Aug 28
DoneSales training 03:09:40 Aug 25
Aug 6
Aug 8

Why Is It So Hard to Get Things Done?
25 Ways Digital Work Management Is Driving A New Productivity Revolution
It’s a reasonable question — especially for a busy executive like you.
A typical day may go something like this…
You sit at your desk and groan as you look
at your jam-packed calendar. You’re stuck
in meetings for hours. You have a running
list of projects to check on. You have team
members to connect with. Somewhere in
between, you have to take a strategic look
at how the business is performing and how
close you are to meeting annual objectives
That is, when you’re not bombarded by
emails, chats and text messages from
colleagues asking questions and requesting
your immediate attention.
The day-to-day grind is a lot to handle,
especially when you consider all of the
bigger-picture issues impacting your
business. Employee retention is down. A
competitor is making a big splash with a
new product launch. More employees are
relocating and requesting more flexible work-
from-home policies.
You need the time and freedom to tackle
all of these issues (and more) head-on. But
that feels impossible when you’re juggling a
hacked-together group of tools to understand
what’s really happening in your business.

3
Disruption is unavoidable.
Flexibility is not a nice-to-
have. It’s a requirement.
73% of employees say flexible
work arrangements increase
their satisfaction at work.3
The modern workforce
has changed.
Boomers will only account for
6% of the workforce by 2020.2
51% of executives think their
organization is at risk of being
disrupted by startups or
incumbent companies.1
Companies of all sizes and across
industries are struggling to keep
pace with the hustle of modern
work life. Executive teams—just
like yours—are trying to keep their
businesses operating optimally,
while also keeping employees of
all ages happy and engaged.
See the data for yourself:
Feel the Pain?
You’re Not Alone

Now more than ever, efficiency and
collaboration are critical to keeping your
business moving like a well-oiled machine.
Operations must run seamlessly and
deadlines must be hit flawlessly. This is
where technology plays an invaluable role.
But not just any platform or app will do.
And a mishmashed stack of tech solutions?
That’s not going to cut it.
Digital work management is setting a
new standard in business productivity
and collaboration, giving everyone in the
organization the visibility, accountability and
control they need to get things done.
4

Problems with the Collaboration “Tech Stack”
If you nodded incessantly as you read the
introduction to this E-book, there’s a good
reason why. Complexity is an inherent issue
in most organizations today—especially for
leaders forced to manage workflows with a
hodgepodge of different tools and apps.
Consider this: Most managers spend 85%
or more of their workdays jumping between
e-mail, meetings and phone calls.4
Rank-and-file employees are not safe from
multi-tasking mania either.
In addition to juggling a slew of
conversations and projects within their
teams, they’re working more with colleagues
in different functional areas.5
This has
made tasks like day-to-day communication,
collaboration and product management
more complex.
31% operate mostly or almost wholly with teams.
65% do some cross-functional team-based work.
Deloitte
5

Many organizations have implemented a variety of point solutions to help streamline team
collaboration and boost productivity rates. On the surface, this seems like a sound strategy.
Chat, messaging and task-management apps all have their unique benefits but as tech
stack grows larger and more complex, major issues arise that seriously hurt your business’
productivity and success:
Lack of visibility:
When teams use different tools to serve
different needs, executive leadership fails to
get a comprehensive view of projects and
broader productivity rates. They need to
understand which projects are completed,
which are stalled and how that impacts
business performance. Without that insight,
the C-suite is unable to determine if the
organization is on track to meet quarterly or
annual goals.
Inefficiency:
As employees hop between different tools and
platforms, it’s easy for information to get lost
in the shuffle. They may forget where critical
project updates are shared and what progress
has been made on a specific project. Not to
mention, it’s difficult to stay productive when
you’re trying to respond to a flurry of emails,
chats and requests throughout the day.
6

Version and quality control issues:
If teams can’t keep track of document
versions and editing rounds, they’re more likely
to refer to—and even use—outdated drafts.
This not only leads to a flawed product; it
can also have a profound impact on brand
perception, team performance and in some
cases, client satisfaction.
Of course, it’s not realistic to completely
abolish tools once they’re implemented
within the organization. Employees are
comfortable with them and use them
daily. The best solution is to have a
system designed to integrate, centralize
and streamline digital workflows and
conversations from all those tools to address
common collaboration pain points and drive
tangible value for your business.
7

The 5 Benefits
of Digital Workflows
8

Digital workflows centralize teams and
projects. Through one platform, users
gain an end-to-end view of all related
tasks, deadlines, documents and even
conversations. These insights pack a
powerful punch for companies that live
or die by their team’s productivity, and
they benefit all areas of the organization
differently.
The Executive Team: Every year, executive
leadership gathers around the conference
table to finalize their key objectives. But
once they leave the meeting, big ideas
and goals are often left behind. In fact,
half of organizations can’t even hit 60%
of their strategic objectives, according to
the Harvard Business Review.6
1
Transparency
& Insight
9

When an organization embraces digital
workflows, executive leadership gleans
powerful insights into critical projects and
milestones in all areas of the business.
This 5,000-foot view of the business can
help them better plan for the future and
determine if their goals are still attainable.
Flexible reporting dashboards can also help
them dig into different functional areas and
uncover trends and tactical takeaways that
are ultimately delivered to managers and
employees.
Team Leaders & Managers: Digital
workflows give managers the power to
access as much—or as little—information
as they need at a moment in time. Gone
are the days of drilling into complex
spreadsheets and getting TMI updates from
managers. With digital workflows, they
can easily gauge team productivity and
individual performance. For example, the
VP of marketing can assess progress on
campaigns that include several functional
areas, including sales, branding and content.
Or, they can drill into the performance of
their individual team members to gauge
whether they’re meeting all deadlines. Plus,
employees are increasingly requesting
ongoing, transparent conversations with their
managers, so having this granular view will
only become more critical.7
Employees: Every day, your employees are
juggling a multitude of tasks. They have to
work towards larger goals established in
their reviews, and also tackle the last-minute
deadlines and to-do’s that dominate their
tasks list. Digital workflows take the pain out
of managing so many different deadlines and
conversations. They know what’s coming
down the pike, receive alerts for new tasks
and have full clarity on deadlines. Productivity
challenge, accepted.
10

2 For decades, enterprises have been
plagued by functional silos. Different
teams sit in their own worlds, with their
own tasks and even their own sets of
metrics. Every day, they plug away at their
work and have little to no insight into what
their colleagues are working on and why.
Imagine sales’ surprise when they find out
their marketing peers decided to change
the theme and messaging for their latest
campaign. Or finance’s frustration when
they find out that HR significantly went
over its budget in their effort to attract
new hires.
Cross-Functional
Collaboration
11

The good news is that more companies are
adopting tools and business practices that
break down silos and empower people from
different functions to work together more
efficiently. In fact, 65% of executives believe
that shifting from a “functional hierarchy” to
a “team-centric” organization is important or
very important. But there’s a catch. Only 6%
of executives believe they’re “very effective”
at managing cross-functional teams.8
Digital workflows help make the leap to
team-based working less overwhelming.
Teams are established based on specific
projects and objectives, and people from all
areas of the business can participate. Within
each workflow, team members can see all
tasks, responsibilities and deadlines.
If employees are involved in several projects
at one time, a digital workflow solution helps
them easily switch to different projects
throughout the day, manage and complete
tasks and even get a quick glance at all
deadlines for the week.
12

3 Sure, communication and collaboration
tools have their perks, but they’re
also a real time suck. During the
average workday, employees only
have 1 hour and 12 minutes free from
communication tools. That means 76%
of your day is stolen by e-mail and chat.9
And that doesn’t include all the time you
lose toggling between tools and looking
for information scattered across these
different channels.
Those days are numbered. Using the
right digital work management solution
centralizes all communication and
collaboration in one place, making it a
one-stop-shop for everything your team
needs to get things done.
Integration
& Centralization
13

Within each project or team, users have
access to chat and commenting capabilities,
can attach documents and images, and
create and update timelines. For example,
rather than sharing the latest ad mock-up
through email, the graphic design lead can
easily upload it to the workflow, so everyone
can review and share their feedback. It’s
a win-win: everyone on the team feels like
they’re contributing to the project and the
graphic designer has an aggregated view of
all edits and comments. No more confusing,
ad-hoc feedback!
Users can even integrate messages and
information from other platforms like Gmail
and Outlook, so all critical information is
in one place. The best part? Everyone has
access to all information at all times, so
projects can keep moving—even if
employees are on vacation or leave the
business altogether.
14

4 Every person in your business has a
unique way of working. They consume
information differently, learn differently
and complete tasks differently. That’s why
a one-size-fits all collaboration platform
or a hastily strung together stack of
solutions won’t work. You need to give
employees the power to access project
information, timelines and tasks in a way
that’s most relevant and valuable for
them. That flexibility is possible with a
digital work management solution.
Flexibility
15

For example, some employees prefer to
look at all their deadlines at a high level,
using a timeline or calendar format. Other,
more visual workers in web design or app
development tend to see and prioritize tasks
using a Kanban layout. Flexibility goes a long
way when you’re trying to drive adoption
— especially because 43% of people get
stressed when new communication tools
are introduced to their workflows.10
Advanced search and filtering capabilities
amplify that power even more, and help
users see the most urgent deadlines and all
corresponding information. This is
especially valuable for managers and
executive leadership who may want to
see tasks, deadlines and updates for very
specific projects.
16

5 Sure, millennials and Gen Z are
dominating the workforce, but you still
likely have Gen X and Boomers in your
organization. That means you have at
least one person who struggles to adopt
all of the tools and apps at their disposal.
A best-in-class digital work management
solution, however, makes it easy for even
the most technology-averse employees to
get up-and-running.
Moreover, team members can easily
update tasks, timelines and progress
within their workflows. This helps them
feel like they’re in total control of their
work life. Those who don’t want to be as
hands-on can embrace automation to
eliminate some of the manual, arduous
tasks that take them away from creative
and strategic work.
Ease of Adoption
& Ease of Use
17

Making Digital Workflows Work for You:
How to Get Your Team Excited & On Board
Embracing a new way of working is no easy feat. But part of embracing a new and better
method means convincing employees to change the behaviors they’ve established and abandon
the tools and apps they’ve grown to know and love. By following these quick tips, you can set
yourself and your teams up for success as you embrace digital workflows:
Focus on the benefits first: Tell everyone
how embracing digital workflows will not only
benefit the business as a whole but them as
individuals, too. Explain how it will make their
lives easier and their days more productive.
Provide examples and inspiration: As you
communicate the value of digital workflows,
try to spotlight different use cases and
examples. Walk through a hypothetical day
for a team and the benefits they’ll see.
Be transparent about the rollout: No detail
should go unturned. Provide insight into when
the rollout will happen, how team members
can get up-and-running and how they can
access customer service and support so they
get the most value out of the investment.
Offer ongoing training and education:
Who doesn’t love a good productivity hack?
IT and HR should collaborate on a series of
training resources and tools that will support
employees once the implementation is over.

Join the Productivity Revolution
Your business is growing...and it’s changing,
too. Don’t fight it by holding your people back
with disparate tools that waste time and
throw their productivity off course. Monday.
com gives you a new, better way to manage
your work.
Empower your teams to plan, organize
and track all projects in a highly visual and
collaborative space. With easy onboarding,
customized templates and layouts, and
powerful integrations, you give them the
power to create a digital workspace that
works best for them. And with our security
model, you can have peace of mind knowing
that all proprietary information, employee and
customer data, and creative secrets are on
total lockdown.
Well, what are you waiting for?
Experience Monday.com for yourself!
Get in touch and kick business collaboration into high gear.
19

monday.com, an award-winning digital work management platform, helps cross-functional
teams centralize and streamline their digital workflows. It empowers enterprise teams to
easily and efficiently manage complex workflows with enough flexibility to customize the
platform to fit their unique needs.
This powerful platform, rooted in transparency, promotes better leadership and decision-
making to foster a more positive, collaborative work environment, and enhance productivity.
More than 70,000 growing teams rely on monday.com in an ever-widening spectrum of
industries worldwide. To learn more about monday.com, visit www.monday.com.
1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/insights-treasuredata/2018/07/17/the-reality-of-digital-disruption-how-to-stay-ahead/#4a1e87fc43c1
2. https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/2020-workforce-will-be-dominated-by-millennials/55775
3. https://theolsongroup.com/flexible-working-most-important-benefits
4. https://hbr.org/2018/07/collaboration-without-burnout
5. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/cz/Documents/human-capital/cz-hc-trends-reinvent-with-human-focus.pdf
6. https://hbr.org/resources/pdfs/comm/brightline/Testing.Organizational.Boundaries.pdf
7. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236189/transparency-builds-stability-remote-workers.aspx
8. https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/human-capital-trends/2019/team-based-organization.html
9. https://blog.rescuetime.com/workplace-communication-survey
10. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2018/04/19/new-survey-explores-the-changing-landscape-of-teamwork
Sources

5 ways digital work management is driving a new productivity revolution

In this document

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to 5 ways digital work management is driving a new productivity revolution

Recently uploaded

5 ways digital work management is driving a new productivity revolution