1) Many defence agencies are losing time and money due to outdated manual processes and inefficient collaboration. New collaboration tools promise to cut approval times in half and save over $120,000 per month by improving communication across departments.
2) A task management tool called TMT has been deployed across 75,000 defence users, increasing collaboration by 10-40% and saving $1.4 million annually at one agency through greater visibility and efficiency.
3) Adopting digital collaboration tools like TMT can transform sluggish processes, reducing approval times by as much as 50% and saving over 73 minutes per task, amounting to large monthly cost savings through higher productivity.
2. Twice the Results in Half the Time:
Redefine Productivity with a Task
Management Tool for Defence
Many defence agencies are losing valuable time and money due to
outdated manual processes and inefficient personnel productivity. But
there are solutions. Imagine the ability to cut approval wait times by 50
percent and save up to US$120,000 per month by addressing the way
defence technology and frontline departments interact, engage and
collaborate. Forward thinking defence agencies are no longer focusing
their defence technology and innovation efforts solely on front line
requirements. Instead, they are looking within to improve cooperation
and communication to better protect national security and equip the
warfighter.
Defence agencies are unique in the sheer volume of tasks and the ever-
increasing flow of information moving into and across the organisation.
Maintaining outdated, manual procedures to complete tasks and
collaborate with others compromises time, resources and ultimately,
the mission. Leaders who advance their agency’s defence technology
capabilities and embrace collaboration tools quickly experience
substantial improvements in visibility and efficiency, and a cost effective
means for meeting mission critical objectives.
Twice the results in half
the time
In defence, everyday tasks have a long
reach. Beneath the umbrella of support
for the warfighter, people and processes
are challenged to keep daily business
workflows operating efficiently. Despite
impressive frontline defence technology
capabilities, business capabilities often
fall behind and focus on team level,
rather than full agency collaboration.
As a result, processes can be slow
and uncoordinated. Collaboration and
visibility are limited and agencies are
mired in bottlenecks and backlogs.
Approval wait times drag on and
deadlines are missed.
Defence technology collaboration
tools can transform sluggish
processes, reduce wait times and
enhance efficiency. Those agencies
deploying such tools across agency
enterprises are seeing greater interface
between support and operations and
improvements in their ability to deliver
services strategically and on time.
Task Management Tool (TMT) is a
defence technology collaboration
tool. Currently deployed at 30
U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
commands and among 75,000
users, it has proven to increase staff
collaboration by 10 to 40 percent in in
every command measured. 1
As an example, a U.S. Air Combat
Command report cited user visibility as
the number one benefit of Accenture’s
TMT. 2 The report indicated that prior
to deploying TMT, 100 percent of users
expressed frustration with legacy
collaboration methods due to lack of
visibility and time spent looking for
assigned contact points and status
updates. After TMT, users experienced
increased visibility of task status and
the additional advantage of archive
capability. Efficiencies were realised
at every step of a task’s lifecycle, with
an overall cost benefit of US$1.4M
annually in strategic efficiency savings.
3. Late happens – but it
shouldn’t happen in
defence
Digital capabilities are reshaping the
way business is conducted and daily
tasks are managed. TMT simplifies
task management from delegation
through approval. Using a structured
but flexible collaboration platform,
TMT can assign tasks to individuals
or teams in an ad hoc or pre-defined
sequence, offer greater visibility
regarding task completion, and allow
review and approval before the work
is released. Scalable to accommodate
large organisations, it can serve as a
platform for DoD-wide enterprise task
management.
TMT has capabilities designed
specifically for tasking in defence.
It can assign taskers to teams or
individuals, create levels of sub-
assignments as needed, and ensure
all staff sees task information
and deadlines in one location. As
situations change, information updates
can be provided immediately. TMT
assignments can be changed at any
time and automatically send email
notifications to affected parties. As
staff respond, real-time status and
responses are visible across the entire
organisation. It allows all users to
create approval workflows and modify
them as needed. Over time, agencies
can use the data gathered by TMT to
better identify which staffs have the
longest approval processing times and
where primary sources of tasks are
located. This information can also serve
to help measure and improve staff
performance, and ultimately, provide for
better interaction between agencies.
Defence technology capabilities are
already in the battle space, leading
many defence leaders to believe their
agencies are digitized. Moving, for
example, to the use of PDF files instead
of paper doesn’t mean an agency
is digitized or even shifting in that
direction. Adopting digital capabilities
requires digital thinking. It may be
time for agencies to ask some tough
questions:
• How efficient are interaction
and cooperation between agency
support and operations?
• Are agency processes as efficient
as they could be, and can you
measure it?
• Are capabilities designed for
individual teams or for the entire
agency?
• Does the flow of information
support fast paced operational
needs?
• Are personnel often waiting on
approvals?
• Is there room for improvement in
successfully delivering services and
information?
Leaders who answered those questions
by deploying TMT as a defence
technology collaboration solution are
experiencing typical savings of about
73 minutes per task, totalling 34
hours of savings per week across each
directorate, and more than US$120,000
in savings per month. 3
As agencies shift to greater use of
defence technology capabilities,
many are learning that not all task
management systems are equal. One
U.S. Army organisation realised a 35
percent efficiency gain within two
months of moving from a home-
grown system to TMT. Further reports
indicate that the U.S. Army in Europe is
seeing approval wait times shortened
by as much as 50 percent over just
three months. A case in point is Task
Management Tool’s “one page, one
button” approval capability that cuts
total approval throughput time by half.
Time to adopt digital Task
Management is now
Defence leaders must see mission
readiness as bigger than the battlefield.
Defence technology capabilities hold
great potential for agencies, but
restricting them to the front lines
is counterproductive. Shifting the
focus to include agency personnel
collaboration as well as processes will
help ensure that the volumes of tasks
are automated, accurate and completed
on time, while the flow of information
is seamless and secure. Leaders who
deploy defence-focused collaboration
tools recognize that adapting to a
digital environment is critical to the
success of their agencies, the readiness
of the force, and fully supports the
mission of defence at every level
throughout the organisation.
References
1. “DOD Task Management Tool
Implementation Credential”, Accenture,
page 1, 2013
2. “Knowledge Operations (KO) Tools Cost
Benefit Analysis (CBA)”, Headquarters,
Air Combat Command, Directorate of
Communications, Warfighter Technology
Division, Knowledge Operations Branch,
Langley AFB, VA, , page 30, September,
2011.
3. “Knowledge Operations (KO) Tools Cost
Benefit Analysis (CBA)”, Headquarters,
Air Combat Command, Directorate of
Communications, Warfighter Technology
Division, Knowledge Operations Branch,
Langley AFB, VA, page 33, September, 2011.