Benefits of CMMS for Productivity and Collaboration for Maintenance Teams

The success of maintenance teams depends on their team members’ productivity and collaboration. As you will see below, productivity is a beneficial result of a collaborative working environment. And the use of collaborative tools like a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) reinforces collaboration, thus boosting productivity in the workplace.

How Collaboration Increases Productivity

Collaboration happens when team members work together to reach a common goal or objective. Below are several ways collaboration increases productivity:

Collaboration Keeps Competition Under Control

There should always be a healthy level of competition between team members. Aggressive or unhealthy competition, however, results in less productivity because members work against each other and compete for resources. A team that promotes members to collaborate and boosts each other’s success is a team that accomplishes goals and gets more things done.

Collaboration Eliminates Wasted Time

Collaboration also increases productivity by eliminating wasted time in searching and collecting data. Most tasks consist of an information-gathering stage where it is critical to collect facts and relevant information before commencing. Collaborating with experts and relevant people results in accessible and updated data in a shorter time. Thus, teams accomplish more tasks for any given period.

Join us for a live webinar with special guest Tom Schiff, a renowned expert in proactive maintenance strategy. In this webinar, Tom will share his top tips and best practices for implementing a proactive approach to maintenance in your team. Click here to learn more.

Collaboration Improves Information-Sharing and Communication

Businesses with a distributed workforce or having a mix of employees in the field and physical or remote offices, rely on the digital collaboration of their members. Members separated physically can streamline tasks and communicate in real time, thus accomplishing more tasks and solving more problems.

In addition, employees are more likely to work together if they share information among themselves. Collaborating team members also learn more from each other. Sharing information and personal insights results in multiple and more creative solutions.

Collaboration Increases Morale and Work Satisfaction

A collaborative environment provides workers with a sense of ownership and pride in their place in the company. Collaboration within the team makes a member feel valued as an essential contributor to the group’s success. As a result, team members are motivated to perform better and work harder. Connecting with team members also results in feeling good or happy at work, thus increasing the quality and quantity of output.

Collaboration Promotes Transparency

Collaboration prevents siloed information that is prone to misinterpretation and errors. By collaborating, members promote transparency and provide correct information for all. Transparency, in turn, builds trust, which makes it more likely for members to come together and work towards a common goal.

Collaboration Lets Members Share the Load

Difficult tasks and failures do not rest on one shoulder but instead on the team’s collective effort. By collaborating, members share the load and increase empathy and respect while reducing frustration and isolation.

Collaboration Promotes Resilience During Tough Times

A collaborative environment also protects businesses against crises. Due to their sense of ownership, members can come together and focus their efforts to support the company, instead of serving their individual or personal benefits.

Collaboration Caveats

Collaboration is a valuable characteristic of effective maintenance teams, one that has a direct effect on their productivity. But before you focus your efforts on developing a collaborative culture in your department, below are some of the essential notes you need to consider first.

Collaboration Does not Only Mean Working on One Common Project

It is a common misconception that collaborating means working on a project together. Thus, most managers assign projects to members to force them to collaborate. Artificially forcing people to work together this way often results in clashing of work styles and personalities. It is a classic case of having too many cooks in the kitchen. Collaboration should be a culture or environment that allows members to initiate collaboration.

Collaboration Does not Have to Mean Direct Interaction

In the digital age, information-sharing does not always mean direct and physical interaction. Tools like CMMS allow different departments access to company information, resulting in faster and smarter work. With maintenance, different technicians using CMMS can work on the same asset on different schedules and thus can share information and collaborate without meeting face-to-face.

Collaboration Does not Mean Constant Communication

Many companies also err on the side of too much communication. Team members are often occupied with emails, meetings, and video calls. Too many of these tasks mean less productive work. In addition, these activities make members work longer hours to accomplish their actual tasks, and most likely to experience burnout.

Collaboration is about working together, not talking about how to make things work. Maintenance members who answer their communications or with meetings with managers will have less time to perform actual maintenance tasks. A CMMS automates much of this communication and streamlines it into one simple system. Managers no longer must track maintenance issues across emails, texts, and phone calls. They can manage and respond to it all in the CMMS.

Collaboration Does not Work Without Autonomy

Collaboration only results in productivity if you allow team members autonomy or independence to do their best. Without autonomy, members become dependent on work instructions. As a result, you get team members who lack the initiative and motivation to perform beyond their duties.

CMMS Promotes Collaboration and Increases Productivity

A CMMS like Redlist is software that increases productivity in maintenance teams by providing a user-friendly platform. This all-in-one platform allows members to interact and communicate, share files, record task details, analyze data, and many more. Below are the ways CMMS promotes collaboration between team members and improves individual and team productivity:

Task Assignment and Scheduling

CMMS lets maintenance managers plan, assign, and schedule maintenance tasks easily and makes it accessible for all team members from any location. Information on member assignments and duties makes it easy for collaboration and coordination of relevant tasks. Members are free to provide suggestions or ask for help if they know each of their coworker’s schedules and availabilities.

Tracking of Task Progress

CMMS also allows maintenance team members to instantly update, view, and monitor the progress of tasks. Problematic tasks are easier to identify, so members can put their heads together to find solutions. Technicians can also ask for and receive help faster if their tasks are easily accessible to their managers or fellow technicians.

Performance Monitoring

CMMS not only lets you analyze maintenance results but also the performance of team members. Performance data provides insights into members’ independent and team performance. It lets managers identify methods to improve collaboration and productivity within their team.

For more on Redlist CMMS and how it can increase productivity for your maintenance team, schedule a demo with us today!