At the speed of now, producers (designers, writers, developers, etc.) are asked to create at a faster rate than ever before.

The best thing a company can do for its producers is provide them with a structure for creating their best work.

An efficient workflow, communication hierarchy and set approval channels all combine to give a producer the ability to give themselves one hundred percent to the task at hand.

Because here’s the thing. You can have the best company vision, mission statement, a cool office layout, health centers and snacks.

You can provide a focused direction and actively try to eliminate distractions. You could do it all, but still not hit the quality or speed of production that’s needed—without risking severe burnout.

There may not be a one-size-fits-all solution out there, but the team at HourStack has taken everything we believe about efficiency in a workflow and built the software to satisfy the specific need of allocating your team's’ time as efficiently as possible.

Whether or not you use HourStack to get more done, these principles for finding the right software to create an efficient structure are still highly relevant for you.

What to look for when building structure


1. A point of view instead of features

A point of view is how the software developers understand a need and add key elements to their product in order to meet the specific need.

A software with a point of view is cohesive, built to be intuitive and only has what you need to get the job done.

Asana, one of the world’s most popular project management softwares was built with a point of view—to create a product that helps teams manage their projects by breaking them down into their most basic, intuitive components.

Companies around the world aligned with Asana’s point of view when it came to running projects, and found it to be a godsend. They 'got it', without ever sitting through a training session.

Features are the opposite of a point of view. A software with an astounding list of features is designed to show all the “things” you “could” do with it. To answer the “but can it do this?” question, no matter who asks it.

A software with only features is often bloated to such a degree that only “superusers” understand it. It’ll have things that you’ll never need, and things you need, you’ll have trouble finding.

Look for software with a point of view that’s aligned with yours, and you’ll find a structure that your team will understand.

Plays nice with everyone

If you find a software with a point of view, there’s a good chance it doesn’t do everything you need to run a business.

For example, great time tracking is not always great accounting, which is not always great project management.

The best thing you can do is look for software that have tight, updated integrations with the other pieces you need.

Why link smaller softwares together? Two reasons.

  1. Each piece is optimized. It has an incentive to be the best at that one thing. It innovates, updates and creates better ways smooth out that one issue.
  2. Reduces bloat. While it sounds counter intuitive, linking smaller softwares reduces the number of unnecessary features that larger softwares promise will help you.

If a software doesn’t integrate well with the other systems you need, pass on it. It won’t be worth the headaches.

Helps those who actually use it

The goal isn’t to give producers everything they want (that would be a long list of ‘features’), but it is to help them smooth out their workflow so they can produce more efficiently.

Understanding the root cause of bottlenecks, frustrations, and communication failures, is the real secret to building the right structure for your team.

The answer might not even be software, it may just be a snag in the process, or project structure. Whatever it is, your producers will know.

At the end of the day, if everyone is aligned to the same point of view when it comes to the structure, everyone will be on the same page, which means better and more efficient work.

How HourStack fits in all of this

HourStack was built with these three principles in mind. It's single focus: be the best way for individuals and teams to get more things done.

To learn how HourStack can help you get more done, sign up for a free trial.