How to Manage an Excessive Workload

In management sectors of business, we often find ourselves having to managing excessive workloads. This situation generates the understandable fear of the so-called boomerang effect. At times, we decide against a possible solution for our business, because we are afraid that the process needed will be too long and torturous. Too much perceived difficulty = let’s leave things as they are.   This is all well and good, but very short-sighted if there is nothing being done to define rules and workloads.  

4 Main Issues

1. Differences in Workload

If staff perceive inequality, practically no team-building exercise will be able to create the right, positive team spirit. “No one plays for others without a feeling of it being a team game.” This is an extremely simply principle, which is often overlooked by decision-makers in organisations.

2. Duplicated or Overlapping Roles

Different roles and duties which overlap are a problem which can generate potential conflict between colleagues in regard to decision-making powers. Employees who have doubts about what their role actually is can find it difficult to perform tasks and duties. The consequence? Time wasted and productive activities delayed. And no

3. Managerial Demotivation

If “who does what” isn’t clear, it is impossible to carry out effective guidance and leadership within a team or create lasting innovation.

4. Inability to Make Decisions about the Future

Management which cant make short-term decisions, cant make long-term decisions either, on matters such as the future organisation of resources. The fear of making mistakes often leads to lethal laxness.   Facilitating Ingenuity Once these fundamental errors have been confronted, with the will to stabilise imbalances which develop within a business, there comes the right moment to decide on which instrument to use to facilitate people’s ingenuity. To be clear, genius is not necessarily something extraordinary. Ingenuity as intuition and inspiration is much more common than you would think. However, it often runs the risk of remaining unseen, given that people are not given the chance to use one of their most immediate creative outlets: proposing ideas. Obviously, ideas from people who aren’t listened to go unnoticed. The Foxwin tool was created to avoid this problem.  

Giving Voice to People’s Ideas

Foxwin is an online platform devised to show ideas, select them and transform them into concrete innovation and organisational improvement projects. It is incredibly easy to install and understand.   Moreover, any business can “set” the software according to specific needs and schedules for understanding and usage.   The main advantage of Foxwin is the ability to allow all members of the organisation to present their own ideas. Here, “present” means to submit them for group evaluation – the exact opposite of keeping them to yourself, regretting them or – even worse – convincing yourself they were stupid.   Using Foxwin generates three main benefits:

• Overcoming hierarchical and logistical barriers
• Saving time
• Starting a process of continuous innovation, able to make the organisation more efficient, sustainable, and competitive.

The problem, as is often said, is starting. Create a start in using the tool effectively. Otherwise, everything remains static, being done as it has always been done.  

Great Examples: ARDISS

There are two great examples who are frequently using Foxwin and, through this, have been able to achieve amazing benefits. The first of these is ARDISS, the Agency established under the law 16/2012 by the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia. ARDISS organises and manages an integrated system of services and interventions, so that all students can overcome real difficulty and reach the highest levels of education. In general programming documents, specific guidelines were identified for the Agency’s activity. To be more precise: the acquisition of a platform able to collect ideas for improvement, from within the organisation. That platform was Foxwin.   Specifically, the ARDISS management believed in a digital idea-collection tool which could map out, structure, and implement environmentally-friendly activities. Now, the ARDISS working community can post ideas for incorporating environmental sustainability into services provided, as well as in daily administrative activities (for example, reducing paper use, correctly separating rubbish, etc.). In the future, this platform could also be used to enable joint thinking on how to solve problems, set specific challenges (eg. Lowering employees’ stress levels), or look for useful ideas to improve internal activity.

Great Examples: CGN Services

The Pordenone company CGN Services is the second case study which shows positive results. With very clear ideas, over time this business has designed an ecosystem aimed at achieving the maximum level of satisfaction for the external customer (‘the associate’) and the internal customer (‘the collaborator’) when they interact with the company. People are always at the centre of CGN projects, which aims to create positive cycle of success through wellbeing, respect for the environment, culture, and personal and professional training. The tools used by this company for achieving its mission are listening and innovation technology.   Choosing Foxwin to develop an ideas contest, the CGN management set itself specific goals:

• Improving of internal and external company processes
• Innovating products and services
• Reducing costs
• Generating larger revenue
• Improving company image
• Increasing employee wellbeing
• Planning new internal services and new partnerships.

Within CGN, people are proactive, and, thanks to Foxwin, they have had the chance to apply for projects. The effect is noticeable: active participation, avoiding leaving the implementation of ideas to the management or to a single department. In short, everyone helps everyone, each with their own skills and abilities.  

Do you know the law on joint employee engagement?

If your business gives an activity bonus, applying joint employee engagement you can save up to €160 per employee per year; plus, each worker will receive an extra €60 in their paycheck.

Discover how to obtain tax benefits, download the guide!