Level up your workflow: Hacks to max out team efficiency

Learn strategies to boost your team’s productivity—and satisfaction

Maxing out your resources

Now more than ever, every hour counts, which is why IT services firms must grapple with the challenge of optimizing staff workloads.

By prioritizing short-term capacity and long-term visibility into resources and revenue, organizations can achieve peak utilization while meeting client demands, keeping projects on track, and ensuring both staff happiness and confidence in future growth. But getting there requires tackling a series of critical challenges head-on.

Tips, tricks, stats—and proven solutions

Solution: Streamline workflows and adopt real-time collaboration tools that enhance accuracy and efficiency. By modernizing your project management approach, you can eliminate bottlenecks and improve project outcomes.

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Are tools to blame for poor time management?

The reliance on outdated or cumbersome tools is not just a frustration—it’s a roadblock to growth. For custom software developers, this issue is even more pronounced, with 73% struggling to keep projects on time and on budget.

Utilization rates are a moving target

Solution: Automate time tracking and reward employees who exceed targets. These strategies help keep billable hours on track, allowing your team to focus on work that directly impacts profitability.

Time data could be your new best friend

Without regular insights into both short-term capacity and long-term resourcing needs, businesses are flying blind.

Solution: One of the biggest issues IT services firms face is having time data on different types of work (e.g. one off projects, ongoing retainers, bugs or support issues, etc.) located in different places. This makes it difficult to get one view of what your teams are doing, and where your time and budget is being spent.

If this sounds like you, it could be time to implement systems that offer real-time tracking and regular KPI analysis. This will provide the visibility needed to avoid bottlenecks and burnout, ensuring that both current projects and future growth are on solid ground.

Encouraging time tracking compliance

Encouraging staff to track and manage their time can be a significant challenge, yet it’s crucial for improving workload optimization.

Solution: Focus on demonstrating the benefits of automation—such as reducing repetitive tasks and freeing up time for higher-value work. Clear communication and training can help bridge the adoption gap and maximize the effectiveness of new tools.

Where did that file go?

Inconsistent documentation can lead to miscommunication, errors, and reporting struggles throughout a project’s lifecycle.

Solution: Create a clear documentation plan and leverage project management tools for real-time updates. This ensures accuracy and consistency, keeping projects on track and improving client satisfaction.

Accurate forecasting is a must

Accurate forecasting is essential for maintaining profitability and client satisfaction.

Solution: Develop robust capacity planning processes, regularly review time data, and ensure that pricing strategies reflect the true scope of work. This will help you stay competitive and profitable in a rapidly changing market.

Recognize, reward, repeat

Motivating employees to track time and hit their utilization goals is crucial for success.

Solution: Establish clear targets, automate tedious tasks, and recognize top performers. This will keep your team focused, productive, and satisfied, leading to better project outcomes and higher profitability.

Don’t let blind spots hold you back

Check out our Capacity Planning Guide to optimize your capacity management

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The takeaway: Turning insight into action

With a clear understanding of the current challenges and opportunities in optimizing staff workloads, IT services firms can begin to make the necessary adjustments. By adopting smarter tools, improving visibility, and incentivizing employees, agencies can not only meet client demands but also achieve peak utilization, ensuring long-term growth and profitability.

We've empowered our staff to determine their own workloads, which encourages our team to be productive at work, and enjoy life more. Our clients have learned to respect our boundaries, and in the process, learned some better workflows for themselves.

Marcus Dickinson, CEO, How To Project