Don’t only be Efficient, make sure you are EFFECTIVE too!
In business, we strive to be efficient. Get our work done, minimal waste of time, effort, or “overprocessing.” This allows teams to produce the highest possible volume of VALUE in the shortest possible amount of time.
All well and good - especially in manufacturing or production of a same-same good or service.
Also well and good when completing tasks that are understood or over which a single person has complete control (like making dinner - if I’m making it on my own, it’s best if I can focus on the task at hand and not be distracted by my phone or kids, or making additional dishes for another time if everyone is hungry for dinner tonight!).
However, when work includes multiple teams - especially cross-functional teams - AND when one group may be developing or delivering something that another group or a wider group of colleagues or customers are going to use - one must not only consider how to be efficient (minimize wasted time/effort) - but ALSO (and possibly more importantly!) - how to be EFFECTIVE.
Check out our video on this topic below.
Being EFFECTIVE means that whatever is being done for the good of another or wider group is:
Understood by the full spectrum of ultimate users/beneficiaries
Desirable / meets the real needs of the ultimate users
The full group of users is prepared to use or participate in the end state
When the delivery team “launches” or “goes live” with the new good/service/product/system - the full user group actually begins to use it
As there are any concerns, questions, feedback, frustration points - there are knowledgeable team members there to support and reinforce the new thing to the group - often in a hub/spoke model with a “Champion” checking in with a pre-identified group of end users (Supervisors, Account Managers, etc.)
I remember being a Project Manager for a suite of new equipment installations, and bringing the team responsible for using and maintaining the new equipment out to the floor as the install was happening to talk about access to electrical panels, bringing in carts or other staging items that were needed for production, or how to reach the top of the equipment for maintenance and service. If we did not do this, we never would have known that we almost put a ceiling tile required for HVAC access right over a portion of the equipment that would have inhibited access to the area of HVAC equipment that needed consistent maintenance.
Another time when developing a customer-facing e-commerce portal, I remember calling up some great customers to show them a wireframe and compare our site to competitors’ sites - asking what they liked, and what could be done better, so that we could deliver an amazing customer experience.
Taking the time to be EFFECTIVE, not only efficient, may add some duration to the project, however it is well worth the effort because if not done, all that efficiency very well could lead to a complete failure for the new project results to be actually used by anyone.
Does this sound like something your team wants to consider for your next big project?
