Being productive at work is often a challenge. Jada Balster, EMEA marketing director at Workfront, offers advice on the steps to take to get more done
Everyone’s heard them; some of us may even have said them from time to time – phrases that give a vague indication of the state of our work, rarely reflecting the heavy workloads, tight time constraints and multiple, simultaneous requests most marketers encounter on a daily basis.
These common clichés have been deemed harmless because we hear them so often. Like an optical illusion, they seem like one thing when you’re up close, but when you look at the whole picture, turn out to be something else entirely. They sound innocent, but are often desperate cries from employees struggling with serious productivity problems.
So, do any of these sound familiar?
Phrase one: ‘Let me email that to you again so it’s at the top of the list’
According to recent research, one-third of workers would rather clean their toilets than clean out their inboxes. Email has gone from being a miracle of technology to one of the most over-used, unproductive and deceptive ways to manage work, with important information lost or forgotten in a crowded inbox.
Navigating between inboxes, multiple chat-screens and isolated pools of data spread across locations and in different programme formats can really hamper effective collaboration. To cut through the layers and bottlenecks, try to centralise work with dedicated request processes and work management solutions such as single email addresses and ticketing systems. Adding social features to workflows can also help keep conversations in context to the work they relate to.
Phrase two: ‘It’s 80 per cent done’
Foggy status updates, such as ‘80 per cent done’ are often used as a rough estimate to indicate near-completion when a team is under pressure to perform. In reality, although it sounds positive, they can often be entirely subjective and misleading; teams often have no actual evidence to show a task is drawing near its conclusion. To make sure status updates aren’t just smoke and mirrors, you should look to create a communication plan template. Establishing expectations and standardising how you track work, for instance, introducing milestones and tracking of those milestones to know when your project is actually 25, 60, or 80 per cent done, keeps the team running smoothly and increases visibility into projects for everyone involved.
Phrase three: ‘Final_v19’ or ‘Is this the final-final?’
The clue is in the name here; ‘final’ should only be used when work is actually complete. Multiple ‘final’ versions are a sign of a broken approval process, which leads to dates being pushed back, delayed delivery and an unproductive use of time on reworks, which can waste between 25 and 40 per cent of project spend.
What constitutes final should be defined at the start of any project, and clearly communicated to everyone in the team before you begin. In addition, all stakeholders in project approvals need to be made aware of their role in the workflow from initial brief to delivery, with everybody aware of who needs to be notified for input at what stages.
Phrase four: ‘Just trying to keep my head above water’
This phrase can also be heard as, ‘Oh, you know how it goes’. Even if a marketer seems like they’re kidding when they say things like this with a tired laugh, the truth is, they probably aren’t kidding. More than 50 per cent of teams do not have enough staff to get work done on time without working overtime.
To fuel team productivity, consider implementing holistic work hubs using technology that can help prioritise jobs according to importance and urgency. Also, set up department-wide ‘do not disturb’ hours to work without disturbances and clear through the to-do list.
Phrase five: ‘I need this by the end of the day’
Creatives are all-too-familiar with this phrase. Someone just told you about an asset they need from you and they need it now. What this saying really means is: ‘We need a better way to prioritise our work.’
Nearly 24 per cent of people report that their work priorities change daily resulting in a shift in their workloads. Instead, you should look to align the goals of different departments internally; for example, creative teams should look to prioritise incoming work requests and quarterly plans based on those best aligned with company strategy. This will empower you to say ‘no’ to overbearing stakeholders with less urgent requests. What is particularly helpful is to explain the trade-offs involved in working on their request instead of something else. Will it push a crucial deadline out? Will it have to be outsourced and cost more? When you can show the opportunity cost for these requests, it will be difficult for anyone to argue with you.
Productivity problems don’t have to be something only Houdini could get out of. You don’t have to accept these phrases as ‘just the way marketing is’ or, as funny clichés. By taking a step back and analysing the work processes you engage in each day, you will see that most people say these things because the way we work is broken. But ditching this lingo and working to remedy some of the underlying problems will help you turn the illusion of productivity into your marketing team’s reality.
