Organisations can spend a lot of time trying to work harder instead of maximising efficiency of their current system. It’s like trying to find a way to press the accelerator further while the handbrake is still on. Just releasing the brake can result in much better results. To continue the metaphor, it results in less stress, less overheating, greater efficiency, and much more return on investment.
Regardless of the field you work in, chances are 80% of your team spend 80% of their time on business related activities.
In my time working as an organisational development manager, I often find that businesses focus their training on their core industry (i.e.: The pharmaceutical industry looks at science and medical qualifications and training development; the I.T. Industry considers systems, engineering, coding; Sales organisations consider product and sales training etc) which is essential from one perspective - however often a huge percentage of the work people do is generic business activity - writing reports, presenting data, hosting or participating in meetings, managing budgets, coaching, leadership, and interpersonal interactions - to name a few.
So, while the core systems and topics are essential, your business, culture, productivity, and stress management of your teams will all benefit from skills training that supports their day to day activities.
In a 2017 survey, HR Magazine UK found that workers spent around 636 hours per year on admin or repetitive tasks.
The NYSSCPA commissioned a survey in their industry and found that “the number of hours people spend at work has slightly increased, from 44.3 to 45.1 between 2015 and 2016. Despite this, however, the proportion of one's day spent doing the actual work one was hired for has gone down in that same period of time, from 46 percent to 39 percent. As for the remainder? The survey found that, on average, 16 percent of the workday is spent on emails, 11 percent on useful and/or productive meetings, 11 percent on administrative tasks, 10 percent on wasteful meetings, 8 percent of interruptions for nonessential tasks and 5 percent on everything else.”
Also consider the idea that people are often promoted based on success in their primary field - a great sales rep becomes a sales manager, or a great product manager becomes the leader of a marketing team.
A great sales rep doesn't, by default, make a great people manager.
While the core sales or marketing skills are still required, these people are often not given suitable training in people management, understanding personalities, or navigating corporate strategy. It's worth taking the time to review your internal development plan to set the team up for success by considering coaching, emotional intelligence, conflict management, and leadership.
Map out the actual tasks and ask the question "could this be done better?"
It can be a great exercise to map out all of the activities that a person does in a given day/week/month and then consider the skills required to do those activities. Often, sales reps will be given product, systems, and sales training. However much of their time may be spent with admin, business planning, reporting, or finance.
I once worked with someone who used a calculator to add up numbers in an excel spreadsheet.
Another who could use excel, however, to transfer the data to a graph or chart, they would physically build a chart using shapes and lines in PowerPoint.
Don’t make the assumption that people know that there is a better or different way.
In the examples above, they produced a graph, and the manager saw a graph. They never thought to ask how it was created. And the employee never realised that it should take a few seconds, not a few hours, to generate the data.
We also assume that people "know" how to use common tools - PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, Word, calendars. You could be losing valuable hours (as well as adding stress to your team) by assuming they know how to maximise the systems they employ.
Conduct a training needs analysis.
What do I suggest – reflect on and review your team's daily tasks. Consider the activities, systems, and interactions. Decide on the skills needed (systems and specialty skills, as well as supporting ‘soft skills’).
An in-depth needs analysis isn't just a survey asking people what they think they need. It is multifaceted and includes staff surveys, time and activity studies, and position description reviews to assist with identifying the relevant skills needed to excel in a given role or team.
Consider a Bryter investment in your people
At Bryter Training we would love to work with you to identify the most impactful areas to invest in. We can work with you to conduct a robust needs analysis and we also compile, build, and facilitate skills training to integrate productivity and interpersonal skills across organisations.
Feel free to reach out any time to see how you can 'release the brakes' in your own organisation!
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