When ‘efficiency’ misses the point

Let us guess: it’s almost Q3-25, and much like any quarter before it, you are under pressure to drive efficiency.

In our current era of AIs, LLMs, RPAs, and many other efficiency-flavored acronyms, getting to this efficient state looks a lot like automating roles, slashing headcount, and delivering 10x more with 15x less...

...but what about the other E in the equation, ‘effectiveness’? A leaner org and lower costs look good on paper, but if the team’s prioritizing the wrong work or performance drops, long-term success is on the line.

True operational efficiency isn’t about doing more with less. It doesn’t always require drastic changes, either: it can come from making smarter, more effective decisions about how work is allocated and teams are structured.

Know who’s available before you outsource

As teams grow, visibility shrinks. That’s often when efficiency problems creep in: not from lack of effort, but from lack of context.

During his agency days, Float’s CEO Glenn Rogers would occasionally hire freelancers, only to later find out there were team members with the same skills available in another office. When he tells the story, he recalls how “projects would get crushed in margins and day rates, and lose profitability.”

That’s partly why he built Float: so teams like his previous one would have a go-to place to see all their resources, in real time, and use this visibility to make effective, profitable resourcing decisions.

How other teams do it → centralizing key information about your team’s availability, skills, and cost rates is a must-have step for running both efficient and effective operations. Case in point: the resource managers at 1,300-employee strong Scholz and Friends make checking for internal availability a key part of their workflow. They use the Schedule view in Float daily to see who’s available across their multiple offices, before considering finding freelance help for a project.

Assign people based on chemistry, not just availability

When building teams, look beyond vacant slots on the schedule: consider how people’s skills, working styles, and personalities complement and enhance each other.

According to Rogers, “one thing that is underrated in any org’s productivity is understanding who works best with whom. You can unlock productivity by putting the right people together on a project team.”

Start by observing “the rhythm and rhyme” of how collaboration happens naturally: who energizes each other, who communicates with ease, and where complementary strengths create momentum. Here is a short clip from Rogers discussing his approach:

How other teams do it → at Instrument, a 300+ person agency, CEO Laurel Burton suggests looking for “an alignment in drive, hunger, and ambition, while including diverse experiences and perspectives.”
Direct managers are trained to understand and cultivate their employees’ interests and growth areas, and share this information with vertical leads to make effective resourcing decisions with team chemistry in mind.

Prioritize talent density over headcount

A large team doesn’t always equal high impact. Rather than scaling generalist headcount, consider creating smaller teams of highly specialized talent, following the concept of talent density pioneered by Netflix.

It’s a shift professional service teams are already making. From conversations with many of Float’s 4500+ customers, Rogers understands that “teams are not growing [headcount] at the scale we saw back in 2021. They’re focusing more on a high-talent density.” Smaller teams with concentrated expertise can reduce both communication friction and overhead, making the business more efficient while delivering quality client work.

How other teams do it → Instrument is structured around three teams of vertical expertise—marketing, product, and design—that serve different client needs. This specialization helps staffing leads assign the right people to the work they’re both highly skilled at and energized by.

The long game of operational success

Operational efficiency doesn’t have to come at the expense of your people or your client work. You can reduce costs and minimize waste while protecting your team’s health, improving morale, and delivering client work successfully.

Start by putting a few of these ideas into practice now. The payoff will echo long after Q3-25 ends.