An effective team isn’t just about hiring the right people—it’s about creating clarity, trust, and rhythm in how work gets done. In modern companies, especially small businesses, much of that clarity begins with how a team handles information and documents.
Just before the New Year, a time that’s perfect for setting fresh goals and resolutions, we spoke with Aleksandra Shulzhenko, a digital workspace consultant who helps teams turn paperwork, scattered information, and workflows into clean, structured systems. We focused on productivity resolutions for small businesses in 2026, but also talked about ways to boost team efficiency, avoid common workflow mistakes, and make day-to-day work run more smoothly.
Create an Effective Team
An effective team is built around three things: clarity, trust, and rhythm. In modern companies, especially small businesses, clarity often begins with how a team handles information and documents.
I’ve worked with teams where half of the productivity problems came not from people, but from things like lost contracts, inconsistent document formats, missing approvals, outdated versions of files, and even “Can you send me that document again?” loops.
Once we structured document workflows and centralized all materials, the team’s collaboration improved instantly.
Not because people changed,
but because the system stopped getting in their way.
Improve Team Productivity
Productivity increases when the workflow is predictable, documents are easy to find, approval and review steps are clearly defined, and manual work is minimized.
One of the teams I worked with used to manage documents across different chats, email threads, and personal folders. It wasn’t unusual for people to spend extra time searching for the latest version of a contract, supplier invoice, or client brief.
The document flow became significantly smoother when we introduced a simple, structured workflow. It was built around the following things:
Implementing a unified file-naming and storage convention
Creating a Notion-based system where documents were linked directly to clients, projects, and tasks
People stopped losing time on searching, re-uploading, and re-checking files, and the team finally had the mental space to focus on creative and client-facing work instead of paperwork.
Use Digital Tools the Right Way
Digital tools become effective when they solve specific document-related problems. Here are a few real-life cases showing common challenges and their solutions.
Scan and structure incoming documents
Challenge: Teams often work with a bunch of different documents, such as invoices from suppliers, receipts from business trips, signed contracts, onboarding paperwork, and purchase orders. This creates a significant paperwork burden.
Before implementing digital tools: Employees took photos on the phone, renamed them manually, forwarded them via chat, and lost track of versions.
After implementing digital tools: Now, they scan documents in seconds using iScanner, convert them to clean PDFs, auto-crop them, and immediately save them in the shared workspace. This reduces manual effort and ensures that nothing gets lost.
Turn documents into databases
Challenge: Important information is often locked inside documents and is hard to track.
Before implementing digital tools: Contracts were stored as files only. Key details like client name, date, price, and location had to be reviewed manually, and financial tracking was updated separately.
After implementing digital tools: For several clients, scanned contracts automatically become database entries in the Notion systems I created. Extracted text populates key fields, and financial tracking updates automatically. This creates magic-level clarity in operations.
Use document-based automation
Challenge: Documents often trigger manual follow-ups, which are easy to forget or delay.
Before implementing digital tools: Teams manually initiated approvals, calculations, notifications, and project kickoffs after reviewing documents.
After implementing digital tools: A single scanned document can automatically trigger approval workflows, financial calculations, notifications to the responsible person, or even the start of a project. Tools become most helpful when they connect scanning, processing, and real-world action.
Don’t Overcomplicate Things
The most common mistake I see is that people collect tools instead of focusing on processes. I often say this to clients:
If your productivity system requires a “manual” on how to use it, it’s too complicated.
A good rule of thumb is to start with the simplest version possible. Once the team is comfortable, you can refine it.
At one startup I worked with, the team initially wanted a “perfect” document workflow. Instead, we built a minimal system: scan→store→tag→use. Only later did we add automations and AI processing.
Adoption was near 100% because the foundation was simple.
Avoid Common Productivity Myths
There are four most popular misconceptions about productivity. Let’s break them down.
“More apps = better productivity.” However, without clear workflows, more tools create more chaos.
“Digital systems will fix poor communication.” They won’t. They amplify whatever already exists.
“We must use what others use.” Not true. Tools like Notion, Asana, Trello, and ClickUp are great, but only if they solve your company’s problems.
“Automation should be added from day one.” Actually, no. You automate only once the process is stable.
Avoid the Top 5 Mistakes
Here are the top five mistakes that most teams make:
Storing documents in chat apps. They will be lost. Always.
Not scanning documents immediately. The sooner the document enters your system, the fewer blockers appear later.
Creating too many folders. Most teams need fewer categories than they think.
Building a Notion workspace that only one person understands. It definitely won’t work, especially for a team with people in different roles and locations.
Mixing personal and business workflows. It always ends up in confusion.
Maintain Your Own Productivity
I rely on energy-based planning and a strong digital system that does the remembering for me. For example, I process all documents as soon as possible by scanning, categorizing, and archiving them. I also use Notion as my workspace and automate repetitive project steps. And I create templates for everything, from onboarding and invoices to project timelines. At the end of each day, I limit myself to just one to three priorities for the next day. This approach reduces cognitive load and prevents decision fatigue.
New Year Productivity Resolution for Small Businesses in Short
Long story short, the best advice I can give is to build one simple, reliable document workflow. Even if nothing else changes, this alone can save dozens of hours monthly.
So, if I were asked to propose a productivity resolution for small business teams in one sentence, it would be:
Reduce manual work, digitize early, and let tools support your creativity—not replace it.
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If you’d like to learn more about building digital systems, streamlining document workflows, or improving team productivity, feel free to connect with Aleksandra Shulzhenko on LinkedIn, where she shares her insights, frameworks, and case studies.
Aleksandra is also growing a dedicated Instagram account for her consulting projects. “It’s new, but I’m excited to develop it— and I’d love to see you there,” she says.
