Mastering Team Productivity in 2024: AI, Collaboration, and Strategic Alignment

After addressing your emails, you notice you’ve been tagged in some slides for that same campaign. Once you’ve responded to those, it’s time to jump on a Zoom call with stakeholders to finalize last-minute tasks for the launch. After the call, some stakeholders request a follow-up email, which you send. Others prefer to be tagged in relevant Google Docs, so you do that too.

Before you know it, it’s 1 p.m., and you haven’t made any real progress on your to-do list. The whole day has been spent juggling different messaging apps, slide decks, and Zoom meetings, all in an effort to get everyone on the same page.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

I recently spoke with Jake Cerf, Head of Corporate Marketing at Asana, to discuss the biggest productivity challenges teams face in 2024 and how to overcome them.

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Jake understands the chaos that can arise when teams lack efficient processes.

“It can get chaotic,” he shared. “Before joining Asana, I spent a lot of time coordinating with people, and it was a mess. We were using email, Slack, Google Docs, and slides, and it was hard to keep track of who was doing what and when. It was easy to lose sight of our overall objective.”

This situation is all too relatable. Fortunately, Jake has some practical advice for streamlining your team’s processes and improving collaboration across functions.

1. Ensure Each Team Leader Knows How Their Work Aligns with Corporate Goals
People want to understand how their work contributes to larger strategic initiatives. They want to feel valued and know that they are making an impact. As a leader, it’s crucial to ensure that your team is working on the right priorities that align with the company’s goals.

This is where a tool like Asana becomes invaluable. Jake uses Asana to keep track of how each task his team handles connects to the company’s key objectives for 2024.

To resolve conflicts between cross-departmental goals, it can be helpful to use a single productivity tool that highlights the company’s priorities from top to bottom.

“As leaders, our job is to make sure people are working on the right things, unblocking issues, and providing a North Star to guide them. When team members know their work matters, they produce better results,” Jake says.

He adds, “You don’t need to micromanage. Instead, clearly communicate the ‘what’ and ‘why,’ and let your team figure out the ‘how.’ Focusing on big-picture objectives boosts productivity throughout the organization.”

If your team struggles with productivity, start by aligning each leader with the company’s major objectives for 2024. Then, ask them to show how their team’s projects contribute to those goals. If a task doesn’t align, it’s time to refocus on what does.

2. Assign AI a “Role” to Boost Productivity
AI has been a hot topic over the last two years, but many people remain skeptical about its impact on their daily lives. In fact, 62% of marketers globally believe AI should be integrated into various roles. For Jake, AI is more than just a tool—it’s a teammate.

“My approach to AI changed when I stopped giving it generic requests like, ‘Please write this blog post,’ and instead started assigning it a role. For instance, I might say, ‘Write this blog post as if you’re a tech writer at a large-scale SaaS company.'”

Jake recommends assigning AI specific roles to enhance productivity.

“When working on an important project, assigning AI distinct roles like editor, fact-checker, or content strategist can significantly improve output.”

He adds, “Tools like Asana also incorporate AI, making it one of the world’s best project managers. It can help you resolve issues, prioritize tasks, and ensure everyone is working on the right things.”

Ideally, your productivity tools should have AI capabilities built-in. If not, consider exploring plug-ins or external tools to increase efficiency.

3. Use AI to Reduce Busywork
Busywork is the enemy of productivity.

When your team is bogged down by repetitive tasks, they don’t have the energy or time to focus on the big-picture goals that drive the most impact.

AI can help solve this problem. Jake highlights content repurposing as one way to boost productivity. “With AI, you can turn a keynote presentation into a blog post or ask it to create the presentation slides from your script.”

He continues, “Finding ways to extend the life and impact of your content is one of the best uses of AI.”

Jake also encourages marketers to use AI for content creation, manager reviews, feedback, brainstorming ideas, role-playing scenarios, and more.

4. Create a Centralized Workspace for Cross-Functional Collaboration
None of these strategies will work without a strong foundation for efficient, scalable cross-functional collaboration.

Remember those slide decks, Google Docs, Slack messages, and emails? Why not consolidate your work into one centralized space?

“Productivity is about visibility,” Jake says. “Your team needs to be aligned and moving in the same direction. A tool like Asana has been incredibly useful for our productivity. You need a space where you can set goals, track progress, and hold people accountable.”

He adds, “Using the same workspace for strategy ensures alignment on the tasks and initiatives that will help you achieve your goals.”

In other words, constantly switching between multiple apps and tools isn’t conducive to long-term productivity. As a leader, it’s your job to centralize as much as possible and then use AI to supercharge it all.

To learn more about how HubSpot and Asana are helping marketers drive productivity, explore the HubSpot and Asana integration available today.