In this post, I'll be sharing a tip with you. It's something small that often goes unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of daily work life, yet it plays a crucial role in improving efficiency within your team. This tip is so essential that ignoring it could compromise your overall productivity. I call this strategy: "Be a Detective."
In the world of work, people can sometimes be a little lackadaisical when it comes to retrieving information, such as a file or a specific piece of data, which is managed or previously held by others. If your team already has a sound information-sharing system in place, such as an online collaborative workspace, this small lack of initiative can become a significant barrier to efficiency.
Let's consider a scenario: you need a file (let's call it "File X") created by a colleague. Your first instinct might be to ask your colleague directly: "Where is File X?" However, if the file is already located in your shared online workspace, it might be more efficient to take a moment to search for it yourself.
Although asking, "Where is File X?" might seem inconsequential, it has the potential to disrupt your colleague's work. Or, if your colleague is busy, you may end up waiting for their response, which could delay your work.
This is where the "Be a Detective" strategy comes in: Go that extra mile. Before asking your colleague for information, spend a few seconds searching your team's shared workspace. This minor change in approach could save time and enhance the overall efficiency of your team.
Indeed, ignoring these small habits can snowball into significant productivity hurdles, leading to what I term as "communication overload" — a relentless stream of interruptions that impede your team's efficiency (for a deeper understanding of this concept, do refer to my previous post, "Communication Costs: The Invisible Killer of Small Teams").
However, before you can implement this strategy effectively, it's crucial to have a robust information-sharing system in place. Without such a system, your team might fall into a communication black hole, spending hours discussing and sharing information, which could otherwise be accessed with a few clicks.
