12 Ways to Improve Your Office Workflow

How to improve your office workflow 

These tips can help you streamline your workflow, reducing stress and increasing productivity.

1. Clearly communicate tasks and processes.

Communication is essential for any business to run smoothly. A successful business encourages employees to let each other know what they are working on, answer any questions others may have and frequently report to their managers. As the leader, you are responsible for assigning tasks to specific individuals and communicating with them regarding their progress. 

To improve workflow, your staff must know what is expected of them for each task. This could include project deadlines, word length, research requirements and other criteria and goals. If an employee isn’t aware of their expected targets, their workflow could suffer because they have no clear guidelines. 

“An effective way to manage the workload of your employees is to give them an estimation at the start of the week,” said Ben Wallington, founder and managing director of Designerwear. “While this may not always be possible, and for some jobs impractical, letting employees know the output that is expected from them gives them a chance to brace themselves for the week. They can prepare and segment their time according to their estimated workflow.”

Assigning a task outside an employee’s area of expertise may cause them to shut down and lose motivation to complete the work. People succeed when they feel their knowledge is used properly, so assigning individual tasks based on employees’ individual skills and strengths will yield the best results. Encourage employee feedback to ensure job satisfaction. [Read related article: The Most Effective Apps for Internal Communication]

2. Conduct frequent training and monitor employees’ performance.

When employees are intimidated by their work, they tend to procrastinate, which can lead to decreased efficiency and productivity. In contrast, when you invest in employee training and thoroughly cover your company’s processes, employees feel more confident in their roles. 

Ryan Rottman, co-founder and COO of AthleteAgent.com, suggested paying close attention to each employee’s performance and regularly monitoring whether they are still thriving in the same role.

“As people learn and grow within a company, they can also outgrow the initial role for which they were hired,” Rottman said. “A sure way to raise employee morale and streamline your workflow is to regularly promote from within, or even add new tasks to a job description to freshen things up. Team members will be proud of their jobs, and it will show in their work.”

3. Get organized.

Organizing your business has many benefits, including a less-stressful work environment and reduced time spent looking for items. Getting — and staying — organized often sounds overwhelming, but if you work on it a little each day, you will be amazed at how easy it becomes.

“The root issue [of workplace inefficiency] is rarely that people aren’t working hard enough — it’s that they’re working under conditions that are disorganized, reactive and unsupportive,” Dr. Jeffrey Ditzell, a psychiatrist at Dr. Ditzell Psychiatry, PLLC, said. “Many of them are overwhelmed, not because of the volume of work, but because of how that work is structured, or more often, how it isn’t.”

You cannot do every task at the same time, so it’s important to prioritize. Doing the most difficult tasks first will allow you to focus on smaller, less difficult tasks later. 

At the start of your day, try ranking each task in a to-do list according to importance and urgency. List the most important projects at the top and check them off as you complete them. If a task seems overwhelming, getting rid of it as soon as possible will ease your mind and reduce that feeling of being consumed by numerous tasks.

At the end of each day, spend 10 to 15 minutes sorting through the day’s papers, filing them as needed and tossing everything you no longer need. Then, set a plan for the next day by prioritizing tomorrow’s tasks in your to-do list. Decluttering from the day will allow you to be more organized the following day, and you won’t feel overwhelmed first thing in the morning.

4. Use collaboration tools.

Collaboration tools help connect teams, especially those working in hybrid or remote settings. These tools generally combine project management features with text, audio and video communication tools, performance management features and more. One such platform is Bitrix24, which brings user-friendly shared calendars and online workspaces together with HR and automation tools.

Collaboration platforms help teams work together seamlessly, regardless of where they’re located. Automated notifications and alerts make handing off a task to the next team member easy and efficient, offering supervisors complete visibility into team-wide progress. These tools are indispensable for keeping things moving and boosting productivity. They can also help decision-makers pinpoint bottlenecks and areas where there is room for improvement, streamlining workflows for future projects.

5. Encourage a healthy work-life balance.

It’s important to ensure your employees maintain a positive work-life balance. Taking work home does not improve workflow; it causes restlessness at home, limits breaks and results in exhaustion the following workday. It can also be a big factor in employee burnout.

Instead, encourage employees to clear their minds when they end their workdays. It will improve work-life balance, increase productivity and boost employee retention.

6. Check in with your team regularly.

Hosting ongoing check-ins with your staff offers them a chance to bring issues to your attention before they escalate. Still, some team members may not feel comfortable speaking up right away. That’s why it’s important for upper management to watch for any telltale signs that an employee is struggling to keep up.

“Managers should … keep an eye out for patterns — are certain team members getting overwhelmed more than others?” Ditzell noted. “Ask your team, ‘What’s working? What’s too much right now?’ This helps identify pain points before they become bigger issues.”

7. Help reduce workplace distractions.

Encourage team members to prioritize their time and build schedules that work best for them. While total flexibility may not be suitable in every environment, allowing employees to block off time for deep work, establishing meeting-free hours or even turning off nonessential notifications can help them focus on the task at hand.

“People are constantly switching between responsibilities, responding to emails and trying to ‘stay ahead,’ but without a real sense of what’s actually important,” Ditzell stressed. “The result is not just inefficiency, it’s also exhaustion.”

8. Support employees through workflow changes.

Employees may encounter a learning curve as they adjust to new workflow optimizations, whether it involves adapting to a new process or a different team structure. Support employees through the transition by communicating often and being present to answer questions. Ask for feedback on how the implementation has impacted their workflow to ensure that the changes are helping — not hindering — the team’s productivity. 

9. Assign roles based on employee strengths.

Each team member has unique skills and experiences that can be leveraged to improve your office workflow. Whether it’s strong communication, creative problem-solving skills or sharp attention to detail, tapping into these individual strengths and providing the right resources empower employees to feel more confident, work more efficiently and contribute more to the team’s success. 

“Make sure goals are challenging but realistic and provide the right resources to support those goals,” Ditzell said. “When everyone feels equipped and supported, processes run smoother and no one gets burned out.”

10. Document workflow processes.

Keep track of your current workflow processes with thorough documentation. Beyond providing a resource to employees when they’re struggling or have questions, having solid documentation can make onboarding significantly easier and more efficient when teaching your processes to newcomers. It also ensures uniformity across your organization.

11. Define success using goals and metrics.

Making sweeping changes to your team’s workflow can be incredibly beneficial. However, it’s essential to monitor these changes and establish clear goals and metrics to help teams understand the impact of these changes and recognize what success really entails. 

“Many individuals don’t have a clear understanding of what success looks like in their role, or who is responsible for what within their team,” Ditzell said. “They rarely receive regular, meaningful feedback, which creates a kind of psychological drift; people keep moving, but without a compass. In these settings, even highly competent employees begin to lose motivation.”

12. Recognize employee efforts.

When employees embrace changes and adapt to new workflows, it’s important to recognize their efforts. Adjusting to changes isn’t always easy for employees; letting them know their efforts are acknowledged can go a long way in making them feel valued and supported.

“Without recognition, a sense of progress or [a] connection to purpose, people struggle to stay engaged,” Ditzell warned. “They may

The best software and tools to improve office workflow

There are several ways to streamline your workflow using office productivity software, such as project management and automation tools. While every company has its own method, each business can benefit from utilizing similar tools.

Look for software that can do the following:

• Simplify collaboration
• Automate everyday tasks
• Secure digital data transfer and storage
• Decrease downtime
• Provide performance tracking and evaluation

In addition, the software should work with your existing system to minimize upfront costs, provide features that meet your needs, fit your budget and have a relatively short onboarding process.

Some of our favorite software and tools for improving office workflow include Monday.com (see our Monday.com review), Slack’s communication tools and Google Workspace.

How office workflow affects productivity

Efficient workflows not only streamline your everyday business processes but can also lead to greater productivity by enabling better use of resources. According to data from Cornerstone OnDemand, 68 percent of employees have reported feeling overloaded by their daily work responsibilities. With more efficient workflows, however, they can feel more supported and less overwhelmed.Employees benefit from continuous improvement through building, measuring, evaluating and maintaining efficient workflows. For example, artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning, can automate these processes with minimal investment, freeing up employee time for higher-value work. 

When efficient workflows are successful, workers have far fewer unnecessary tasks. They also reduce errors and encourage collaboration among departments. By having a smart system in place, team members can boost both their own productivity and the overall success of the company.

Victor Snyder and Julie Thompson contributed to the reporting and writing in this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.