What Is A Workstream & How Can It Benefit Your Organization?

Imagine leading an organization with the usual but old-fashioned method of assigning duties to each of your workers individually. There are several things at stake here, even though each of the registered tasks is allocated to the appropriate department.

The old assembly line model structures the industrial workflow sequentially with a linear and distinct phase of team activity. While delegating duties discretely to individual team members might be useful for building industrial specialization, it lacks fluidity.

In contrast, the Workstream model helps every member of an organization view the industry as a single entity instead of a divided honeycomb. The entire workflow is cyclical and allows for the maximization of each team’s potential toward yielding a better result.

What you will learn from this article includes in-depth knowledge of Workstream, why your organization needs one, and what Workstream Collaboration means.

What Is A Workstream?

The workstream model is a progressive, non-linear model in which the joint effort of every individual leads to the successful completion of the product at hand. Every unit of the organization is involved in the whole production process until a final, refined outcome is achieved.

Multiple members and organizational units can simultaneously work on the same project using the workstream model. Such a method allows for everyone to be a part of the process and ensure changes are made when necessary for a seamless output.

Instead of viewing the organization as one where every individual member or team works independently of the other, the workstream methodology helps members see the organization as a collective and dependent system capable of iterative and incremental progress.

This is in contrast to the usual isolation method where members or individual organizational units only care about their assignments. The old assembly line model does not permit flexible adjustments, and expectations for the final product are mostly fixed. As a result of this, there are almost zero chances of evolution and a declining chart of productivity.

The Workstream Model in Organizations Today

Several large organizations, including Apple and Google, make use of the workstream model. At Apple, each of the team units and individual members works together to achieve a shared purpose — to create an extraordinary user experience.

There are many units, such as the product manager, business experts, specialists, creative techs, logistics, etc. However, each of these roles works hand in hand to ensure a perfect outcome is reached. While each team still has its usual job allocation or assignments, they can carry other units along and be aware of the problems faced by these units so that no one works in a siloed concept.

The traditional silo concept only fosters the delivery of results from each individual as an independent unit, despite working on the same product. Expectations are set. As this concept is very restrictive and less productive, it is not advisable for modern organizations.

Benefits of Using the Workstream Model

While the silo methodology has its advantages, you cannot dispute the fact that it is linear and too rigid compared to a workstream model. The workstream model offers an opportunity to fully tap into each unit’s potential.

The following are some of the advantages of using a workstream model in an organizational setting:

Non-linear Progressive Cycle

Iterative processes involve repeating the same action over and over again. The workstream adopts this cyclical method of structuring in an organizational setting. Such a non-linear method is very helpful in improving or developing new ideas with regard to an existing product.

An organization where the expectations are preset, as seen when using the silo methodology, offers little to no chance of evolution. Everyone, however, has the chance to make necessary adjustments to the product with the workstream methodology. The whole cycle of production carries every member along. This can lead to the creation of a more refined product.

More Productivity

The work cycle of a product manager, particularly for large organizations like TikTok, is a perfect example. TikTok product manager ensures each department works simultaneously on the same product. Simultaneous involvement of each member increases productivity because errors that may occur during the setup process are eliminated as quickly as possible.

Isolating a team to their assigned task can result in decreased productivity. In the silo model, there is a need to pause the whole production process if there is an error and wait till the department involved resolves it. This is extremely inconvenient and could cost the organization more time and effort.

Workstream Collaboration

Now you know what workstream is all about and why your organization needs this model. However, there is a key factor that ensures this model works perfectly, and that is communication. To ensure every unit in an organization works simultaneously on the same product, there needs to be a good communication channel.

Workstream collaboration (WSC) is defined as a product market where tools essential for fostering internal collaboration between members are made available. The tools available in this product market help to facilitate more efficient communication and allow for simultaneous contributions to the entire production process.

Other than fostering communication, WSC is a good way to have each member of your organization get to know each other better. With these tools, everyone gets a better understanding of the company’s inner settings and structure. Workstream collaboration prevents any unit, especially the remote or non-desk employees, from feeling disconnected.

WSC tools like Microsoft Teams can be used for teaming up with other organizations. For larger projects, this encourages inter-organizational collaboration and permits each organization to work alongside the other simultaneously. Importantly, there is a robust file sharing feature that facilitates the sharing of documents with everyone at the same time.

Summary

To stay competitive against other organizations, you need an effective model to structure your workflow and achieve more productivity. Use the workstream concept to foster a cyclical but progressive production process within your organization.

By utilizing one or two of the Workstream collaboration tools and breaching the communication barriers, industries have the opportunity to achieve better results than before.

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