3 Ways a Work Management Solution can Break Down Silos on Your Team
Most teams use several different methods for sharing information. Email, spreadsheets, status meetings, and even sticky notes make regular appearances and suck up too much time that employees could be spending on creativity and productivity.
But, wasted time isn’t the only problem with this kind of scenario. When everyone is using different tools, chances are you are suffering from siloed information, which means you can’t collaborate, strategize, or make decisions effectively.
Here are three ways a centralized work management solution can address these problems and break down the silos inhibiting information sharing on your team.
1. Keep it Together
Email and spreadsheets have their place, but they aren’t adequate for work management. A work management tool will keep you from spending too much time in your inbox, help you organize files and track drafts, and find accurate status updates quickly.
In a recent webinar, Chris O’Neal, product evangelist at Workfront, explained why getting everyone on board with a work management tool is essential:
While some flexibility in teamwork can allow for creativity, “sometimes the flexibility creates gaps between team members or between processes,” he added.
J. Alan Goddard, director of operations transformation services at Leappoint said that when he helps clients use a work management tool like Workfront, teams can close those gaps:
A work management software with digital collaboration tools opens doors to better collaboration, faster reviews, real-time status updates, and organized files and communications that save time. O’Neal believes this comprehensive view of projects, that is free of siloed information, allows teams to more effectively meet goals:
“If your only insights come from project statuses and those are incomplete, you may end up with projects that say ‘complete’ or ‘on time,’ but really fail to meet their goals.”
2. Value Collaboration
Recent research by Deloitte found that 94% of surveyed companies say that “agility and collaboration are critical to their organization’s success.”
Goddard shared what it was like to help a client implement Workfront, which increases collaboration exponentially.
The business Goddard worked with, a global company with more than 20 brands, was wasting resources “because they didn’t have visibility on key deliverables within their project, and when they would be delayed, they just couldn’t see the impact early enough.”
“What they realized is that their project managers using email and spreadsheets were not able to communicate, plan, or manage any of their projects and work assignments effectively for their teams. Everybody was just chasing the loudest wheel.”
After Workfront was adopted, silos were broken. Collaboration was possible and project managers could make better decisions, keeping projects on track.
O’Neal sees a centralized work management tool as an essential way to give workers invaluable context that they couldn’t gain when information is siloed:
When people begin to see the perks of having the context they need and being able to find information quickly, the strengths of a collaborative organization—one where great ideas are easily shared and project issues are resolved quickly—will benefit everyone.
3. Customize Communication
Siloed information often comes from a lack of communication, causing frustration, delayed deadlines, and sub-par work. PMI found that “effective communications is associated with a 17% increase in finishing projects within budget.”
Not all teams will need to communicate in the same way and each team member and stakeholder needs access to different kinds of information. A work management solution makes it possible to view data and information in a wide variety of ways, so siloed information and lack of communication aren’t an issue.
O'Neal said:
This kind of access makes status updates, reporting, decision-making, and planning possible in a way that just isn’t an option when teams are inhibited by a lack of communication and information silos.
A work management solution can effectively help you break down silos on your team, so information is easier to access, collaboration is valued, and communication strengthens your efforts and improves your output.