Pushing Productivity Boundaries With Processes

I am pretty sure every working individual has at some point thought to themselves, “Do we need to go to that meeting? I’m so busy as it is!”

As a junior employee at a Singaporean fintech firm, my company’s relatively flat hierarchy makes it easy for me to reach out to the senior management team for feedback and approval. I, therefore, used to believe that processes such as meetings, frameworks and procedures only serves to slow me down.

I’m not the only one who harbours these sentiments. A recent Doodle study in 2019 found that 89% of their survey participants irritated by ill-organised meetings. Another article by the Huffington Post talks about how too many processes and regulations kills productivity in the workplace. However, as I scale the corporate ladder and take on more responsibilities, I realise that this notion cannot be further from the truth.

1. Attend That Meeting

At the start of every week, I have an average of four meetings to attend. These meetings may take up most of my Mondays, but it is key in defining my tasks for the rest of the week. As a marketing executive, I can get caught up with my deliverables. These meetings help me to re-align and focus on the bigger picture whilst keeping in mind the accountability I have to my colleagues through the impact my work can have on the team.

The company adopts Andy Grove’s Process-Oriented Meetings which are held at an individual level between managers and their employees for personal feedback on their work, and at a working level to discuss problems and solutions within their teams. There are also decision-based meetings which can happen on an ad-hoc basis to reach a decision.

For these meetings to work, I have come to learn that it is vital for the chairpersons to stick to the meeting agenda. They also need to come prepared with the key talking points that they would like to share with the group. Just as importantly, those attending the meeting must have the relevant information for everyone to arrive at a meaningful and productive outcome.

2. Scrums - Not Just For Rugby

We also employ what we know as a scrum-style stand-up meeting every morning where each team member briefly addresses what they are currently working. These sessions usually last no more than 10 minutes and by the end of the meeting, everyone knows what their colleagues are working on, making it easier to understand and support team.

For example, these sessions have prevented me and my teammates from double-jobs due to a lack of communication. These mini group-chats also let me discuss and resolve with my teammates on matters like the sharing of company resources in an amicable manner.

In fact, daily scrums are found to have a more positive effect on young working professionals in a study done by the University of Oslo. The report found that junior software developers find the quick daily catch up with the team helped solve their problems at work.

I have also found it beneficial as these sessions have presented me and my teammates a quick way to seek support and advice from the team should any one of us ever find ourselves in the situation of having to manage very tight deadlines. 

3. Take Note of Everything

Conversations are a key part of getting things done throughout the day and I find that a five-minute phone call or catch up usually helps me to get things done faster. But I also learnt that it is important to summarise your conversations via email post-catch up to align on what was discussed. According to an article published on the World Economic Forum, we tend to lose almost 40% of the all new information we receive. So, I jot down those post-conversation notes to ensure I don’t forget the important details. I also find it useful to document stipulated deadlines and timelines to help me prioritise and manage my various responsibilities at work.

At meetings, I make it a habit to note down the minutes even when our company’s secretary is documenting the session. According to psychological researchers from Princeton University and the University of California, Los Angeles, note-taking is one of the most effective ways of understanding and remembering what is being said.

As for me, doing up those minutes keep me sharp during the meeting and forces me to pay attention to what is being discussed. It also means that there is a lower likelihood of me missing out on my responsibilities even if it was not listed down in the official minutes. As standard practice, I will note down the decisions, discussions, and follow-up actions from every meeting.

4. Always Check Yourself

Beyond having processes to streamline and give clarity to our roles and responsibilities, we also have procedures to review, analyse and improve existing business structures. As the company grows and adapts to stay ahead in the business, structures that were implemented in the past may need updating to keep up with market demands.

To meet the needs of our key business stakeholders, the company is constantly keeping track of their internal and external processes to ensure efficiency. For example, there is a system set up for employees and customers to submit tickets of any issues they encounter with our products or services. Our Chief of Staff keeps a copy of these feedbacks to analyse the areas where the firm can seek improvement.

5. Conclusion

Although I am just one year into the working world, I learn that no matter how small a company is, processes can help a firm perform better. It makes decision-making more efficient, tracking of campaigns and events performances easier, and productivity higher as work objectives conveyed becomes clearer.

If working in the corporate world is like swimming in an ocean, I would akin processes to life vests and safety buoys. Without them, the strong undercurrents of tight deadlines and demanding workloads can quickly pull you down into its murky depths.