By Henry Brown
Every business owner dreams of receiving rave reviews while generating increasing profits. For small businesses, efficiency is key. If you run a company, and you’re looking to lower expenses and boost sales, taking steps to improve efficiency is a great place to start. In this guide, we’ll explore some effective techniques you can employ to achieve more for less.
Promoting teamwork and cohesion
We’re all familiar with the slogan, ‘teamwork makes the dream work.’ Although it is a cliché, it rings true in business. If you have a group of employees that works well together, your business will reap the rewards. Individuals will be more productive and they will represent your brand in a positive light. There are many ways in which company bosses can promote teamwork and cohesion and boost morale.
If you’re currently working remotely, make a concerted effort to keep in touch with every employee, organize regular team meetings and have fun too. If you’ve had a busy week of meetings and client calls, it’s a great idea to take a break to do something that doesn’t involve analyzing sales figures or combing through data. Play a game, watch a movie or tune into a virtual gig together, hang out online with a drink or embrace the new hobby du jour, quizzing. It’s important to reach out to your employees, to check in on a regular basis and to make sure that everyone is adapting well to working from home. If you’ve opened premises and you have teams on-site, plan frequent catch-ups, keep channels of communication open and take steps to ensure your team feels safe. The pandemic has caused many people to experience rising levels of stress and anxiety, so it’s advisable to keep an eye on your employees and ensure morale is high.
Prioritizing quality over quantity
It’s understandable to assume that the more hours you work, the more you get done. In reality, prioritizing quality over quantity contributes to higher levels of productivity. Studies suggest that taking breaks and working shorter hours can improve efficiency and increase output. As a company owner, it’s beneficial to encourage your employees to find a healthy work-life balance and to take control of their schedules to enable them to work more effectively.
If you have teams operating remotely, and your employees are based at home, it’s an excellent idea to liaise with your employees to establish core working hours and then offer your team the flexibility and freedom to manage their diary outside of these hours. If everyone is available from 10 am until 2 pm, for example, your employees can choose to start and finish early, to condense their hours and take a shorter day one day of the week or to start and end late. Overtime can lead to burnout, which will impact productivity and wellbeing and increase the risk of mistakes and errors.
Technology and software solutions
Most businesses have been reliant on technology for some time, but the importance of investing in modern tech has never been evident than it is today. Without technology, many companies would have crumbled when orders to stay at home were put out. Thanks to innovations and creative technological advances, businesses were able to continue providing products and services with teams based at home and premises shut. Technology offers businesses a raft of advantages, not least the ability to save time and money by streamlining operations and accelerating production and distribution.
Technology also makes it easy for company bosses to manage remote teams. With software solutions like those available from JobNimbus, it’s possible to run a business on the go, to keep in touch with employees and to provide a superior service for customers. If you’re looking to increase efficiency and lower expenses, it’s wise to think carefully about the technology you currently use and investigate potential investments and upgrades. If you’re behind the times, you could be wasting a lot of time and money, and you could also lose customers to competitors. Look for investments that will make a positive difference to your business. Some companies will benefit from innovations that will have no impact on others. Search for industry-specific solutions and targeted, tailored services.
Cutting-edge tech can make the difference between sinking and swimming during the pandemic. With technology, you can do everything from running manufacturing operations safely using robotics to bringing teams together and connecting with clients using video conferencing software. You can also sell online if your store or showroom is closed and you can take orders 24-hours-a-day via apps and websites.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing is increasingly popular among businesses of all sizes. The most significant benefit of outsourcing is being able to access skills that you don’t currently have on your team. Rather than hiring new members of staff and increasing your wage bill in the long-term, you can work with external companies and agencies or hire freelancers to take on individual projects or provide services in exchange for a monthly or an annual fee.
Outsourcing is cost-effective, and it can also improve morale by freeing up time and eliminating tasks that don’t match your employees’ job descriptions. If you run a medical practice, for example, your receptionists might not accept a job expecting to be responsible for creating and sharing marketing posts or trying to solve IT problems. Outsourcing marketing and using managed IT services could help you attract new clients, reduce the risk of downtime and prevent security issues, while also ensuring your core staff members are able to focus on their jobs.
Setting clear objectives
A lack of clarity can decrease efficiency and elevate the risk of making mistakes and falling behind. If you run a business, it is crucial to outline clear objectives and to ensure that every single member of the team understands their role, the requirements of the project and the deadline. Plan group meetings to discuss timelines and divide up tasks, get together on a regular basis and use software and online communications to update and monitor progress. Providing clear instructions will prevent confusion, and it will enable every employee or department to start work knowing exactly what they need to do. If you turn your computer on not knowing what to do on a Monday morning, it’s going to take you longer to complete a job than it would if you fired up your laptop first thing ready and raring to go. Communicate openly, make sure people feel able to ask questions or raise queries and provide access to resources that will facilitate cohesive collaborative work.
Embracing automation
We have all been in a scenario where we have devoted hours to mundane, repetitive tasks that seem to take an age and bring very little joy or job satisfaction. The good news is that advances in technology mean that it’s possible to save a huge amount of time by taking advantage of automation. Automation enables us to eliminate menial, time-consuming jobs, freeing up more time for employees to focus on priority projects and making work more enjoyable. Automation can also help to lower the risk of errors.
Monitoring performance
Monitoring performance levels is an effective means of improving service and productivity. If you don’t already use analytics or ask customers for feedback, it’s beneficial to start using additional metrics to track your progress. Your sales figures will give you an idea, but there is a vast amount of data available to business owners now. Using this data can help you identify weaknesses, build on strengths and develop ideas.
If you’ve launched new marketing campaigns to boost online sales, for example, use analytics to track traffic and see where people are dropping out of the funnel and ask web users to rate your site. Test individual landing pages and address problems. If you’re getting a lot of traffic, but you’re losing customers when they visit your landing page, for example, modify the page. Make sure it looks captivating and interesting, provide useful information about the relevant service or product, add visual content, including video clips, infographics and images, and direct people to a contact page, live chat or an enquiry form if they want to learn more or they have questions. Use feedback and reviews to gather ideas and suggestions and rectify issues.
Every business owner wants his/her company to run as smoothly as possible. It’s not always easy to make adjustments, but being flexible and adaptable and looking for ways to improve can increase efficiency, productivity and sales. If you’re on a mission to provide a better service for your customers, get more out of your team and lower expenses, there are several ways to improve efficiency. Invest in technology and tailored software solutions, embrace automation, communicate with your team, prioritize wellbeing and work-life balance and consider outsourcing if you need to access skills without adding to your wage bill.
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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.
