Empowering Teams: How Custom Software Can Improve Productivity

Any business worth its salt will say its team are the beating heart of the organisation. If you expect to run a well-oiled machine, it’s imperative you provide your team with exactly what they need to feel satisfied, appreciated, and empowered in their job role. Simply recognising the quality of work and achievements of a team can make a real difference to how it performs.

Listening to your team and providing them with the tools and software they need to get the job done is essential, not only to the quality and efficiency of their work but to their perception of their employer too. Happy teams that feel they are valued are 12% more productive than teams that don’t feel this way. It’s this kind of productivity that can revitalise a tired and ineffective workflow.

What better way to show your team you’re ready to provide whatever they need with an entirely custom-made software system built to their requirements and expectations? Let’s look at how custom software development empowers teams.

How does custom software streamline team operations?

The foundation as to how custom software can improve team productivity is in how it aligns exactly with the specific objectives, processes and workflow of that team. With a bespoke-made piece of software, there are no unused, wasted features and no awkward manual middle steps to get from A to B in your internal processes. Everything is made exactly how you need it to suit your team’s unique ways of working. Lean, simple, and efficient.

It’s difficult to attain this with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software which is built to be generic and meet the needs of teams in a broad, catch-all fashion. Some COTS systems work for the vast majority of businesses, like Slack, the corporate instant messaging tool used by thousands of companies to keep their workforce communicating, both in the office and remotely.

However, we notice that one major benefit of custom software to businesses, especially large and complex ones, is reducing the number of unrelated systems they have to jump between. With a streamlined custom software system, everything you need is in one place, intuitively laid out to meet your needs. System connectivity is enhanced by custom software that is tailor-made to build swift and intuitive connections between your processes.

Imagine the impact of an entirely bespoke Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system in inventory management. A custom system can be developed to automate the entire inventory lifecycle. Manual intervention would be eliminated from placing an order and shipping, resulting in the reduction of human error and operational downtime. Valuable man hours could be reshifted so that mundane, repetitive, and tedious tasks are taken care of by software while people in the team can pursue more creative, strategic, and enjoyable activities.

It’s this type of internal management re-organisation that can breathe new life into your team. Giving them more meaningful purpose in their roles and allowing them to pursue more vocational goals in the company. This increased happiness creates powerful waves in the morale of your company as a brand, trickling down to customer interactions, motivating your staff to provide the best level of service they can as they are genuinely more engaged with the reputation of a brand for which they genuinely enjoy working. Custom software can also be built to offer more personalised customer service and better learn how to satisfy your audience.

Find out more about how custom software can help you provide a better service:

• Turning Data into Insight: The Role of Custom Software in Enhancing Analytics

• Boosting Decision Making: How Custom Software Can Improve Your Data Analysis

Is custom software cost-effective?

Many businesses are cautious about investing in custom software, and some might assume it’s entirely out of budget. It’s okay; we understand. A totally bespoke system sounds expensive, and it might be more costly than the cheaper COTS options you manage with currently. The reality is that custom software is an investment, and it’s one that usually comes when a business is scaling beyond the capacity of any off-the-shelf solution. The initial cost is higher than paying for subscriptions to some platforms and tools, but this one-off cost can reduce the need to pay recurring fees, licences, updates, fixing errors, and all the other costs that come with keeping track of myriad systems.

As a business evolves, its needs evolve, too, and there will come times when processes need to change. For one, flexible working models are here to stay. Adapting to these changes is easy with custom software, which is built to be modular and easy to update and change at a moment's notice. You also benefit from a team that knows your system inside and out because they created it. This also contributes to the sustained return on investment of custom software.

How does automation boost team productivity?

We have already touched on how custom software can relieve workers of monotony through automation. Automation is at the core of custom software’s value proposition, with the capability to delegate repetitive, dull, and time-intensive tasks to digital systems.

This speeds up workflows considerably. A report by Smartsheet on automation in the workplace revealed that workers estimated they could save six or more hours per week if repetitive tasks were taken over by automation. That’s almost a full workday. When these activities are handed over to a streamlined digital system, it means employees can dedicate their focus to other projects and tasks, pursuing creative, strategic, and revenue-generating endeavours. These meaningful tasks lift spirits and contentment among team members who know their skills and experience are being applied to valuable areas of the business and ones they can claim autonomy over.

How does custom software improve security and compliance?

Does your team need to jump through hoops or follow tedious steps to comply with regulatory standards? Custom software can be made to support your protocols, providing intuitive processes for your staff and minimising risky human error.

Operating in sectors with rigorous compliance expectations and data security considerations is a minefield for teams that need to tread carefully. Empower your team with the confidence to work in complete security and compliance with the support of a robust platform. A tailor-made solution can and should incorporate advanced security protocols and encryption technology.

Not only does this eliminate much of the pressure on employees to ensure safety and compliance checks are made, but it also takes the business security to new levels likely not available on COTS options. By constantly adapting to a changing landscape of requirements, your custom solution allows your workforce to fulfil their duties without pressure and in full confidence.

Results-Driven and Future-Proofing

People-centric custom software development starts with a deep analysis of your current processes and operations. When it comes to team productivity, satisfaction, and empowerment, it’s of the utmost importance that we truly understand and know your people and how they work before we even begin to start thinking of solutions.

We start with a discovery session where we collect information from you. This is the point at which we understand the pain points from your perspective. It’s also helpful for us to speak to members of your team and get a detailed understanding of the daily ins and outs of everyone’s job. Other observations like your current software, processes, regulations you need to follow, and your internal company culture also all play into our data gathering stage.

We talk a lot about how custom software future-proofs your business, and this starts from step one in your project, where we not only address present concerns but forecast the evolution of these challenges and how to mitigate them as your business develops and grows in an ever-changing world. All custom software should be built for scalability, turning hurdles into opportunities for improvement. Thanks to this approach, your solution is a dynamic and progressive asset that enhances your business, giving way to innovation.

How do you choose the right development partner?

If custom software sounds like the right direction for your business, the next step is finding the right developer or team to work with. A good custom software developer will bring technical expertise and insights to guide your project and help you explore the options available.

Many of our clients don’t even know that custom software is the best solution for them because it’s such a broad spectrum of possibilities. Usually, they come to us with a challenge or pain point that they don't know how to resolve, like a lack of team productivity and motivation. It’s essential you find a capable and trustworthy partner who can communicate complex technical concepts to give a good understanding of the options available to you. Post-development support is also crucial, as your custom software can’t be maintained using any global manual, it’s made bespoke by your developers.

Start your custom software developer hunt in the right place. Talk to Myth Digital. We’re custom software specialists who know how to transform your digital systems to help your team reach its full potential.