From managing employees to keeping track of your business finances, there’s a lot in the way between you and your small business’ productivity. The good news is, there are plenty of strategies you can bring to your small business if you want to ramp up your productivity and maximize your annual profits.
In this article, we’re giving you 3 of our best tips to help you update your processes and foster a more constructive work environment for your staff.
1) Automate Daily Processes
One of the simplest ways you can speed up procedures in your business is to restructure how you complete daily tasks. These regular tasks often take up a lot of time and distract from more important responsibilities like working with clients directly or generating new business leads. And you know what wasted time is called in the business world? Wasted money. But thanks to new and industry-specific technologies, many of the mundane tasks we used to perform day in and day out are now able to be automated. Let’s take a look at a few examples based on different industries.
● Finance: There are many different technologies that may be useful for businesses in the finance field. A software for tax preparers can help tax firms easily manage client information and filter through tax forms for errors—saving countless hours and preventing possible discrepancies.
● Hospitality: Restaurant owners often have a lot of team members to manage and it’s hard to keep track of who’s working when. An automated restaurant time clock system allows owners and managers to accurately track and pay employees without having to check up on the dining floor every few hours.
● Startup: Opening up any kind of business has its challenges—you have to figure out how to manage staff, where to obtain licenses, and how to grow your business. HR software and marketing automation are two ways you can minimize the time you spend figuring out the details by implementing strategy and best practices from the start.
2) Implement Strong Training Programs
A lot of wasted time comes from insufficient training practices. Businesses should spend time onboarding and training each new employee on company values, standards, and job specific processes from the moment they step into the workplace. This way, you’re less likely to encounter major issues that may put you behind in fixing and training hours.
ProTip: Provide an employee handbook with specific instructions for processes and procedures that your staff need to know in order to succeed in their position.
Track Time
If you’re not sure whether you have a problem with productivity, you need to take a look at the numbers. Use a time tracking and project management system to help you figure out how much time certain tasks are taking so that you can plan schedules strategically and identify any room for improved productivity.
Many apps integrate with one another so you can use both time and project management features to get the best data.
Some popular time tracking applications include:
● Everhour
● Harvest
● Toggl
ProTip: Use the browser extension of these apps to easily turn the time tracking function on and off throughout the day as you move from task to task.
Some popular project management apps include:
● Asana
● Monday
● Trello
3) Create A Productive Work Environment
If you have a distracting, unproductive work environment, you’re not likely to see your productivity levels change much. Foster a more constructive environment by doing the following:
● Establish a respectful office environment: Designate specific quiet hours throughout the day, hold meetings in closed conference rooms, and remind your staff to keep loud conversation to a minimum.
● Make space to unwind: Newsflash...your employees aren’t robots. In order to function and produce great work, you need to give them space to take a break, eat meals, and catch up with their coworkers. The best way to do this is to create a space separate from the main working area so that no one is disrupted by conversation and stinky microwavable meals.
● Collaborate: It is usually easier to get things done when you have many hands to help. Many hands make light work. Foster a sense of connection and collaboration within your business by investing in an internal messaging system that can help everyone stay updated on projects and company announcements.
Takeaways
You can make your business more productive by:
● Automating daily processes
● Training
● Tracking time
● Creating a productive work environment
Good luck boosting workforce productivity!
