Running a business is no joke, especially for small businesses and starters. With the vast competition ahead, ensuring work efficiency to enhance productivity is non-negotiable. You cannot waste productive time doing things you can easily delegate or automate. You cannot lag with introducing technology into various sectors of your operations. Administrative duties, product development, sourcing, customer relationship and sales, marketing, etc. All need to be run efficiently to give you an edge over competitors.
Some aspects of ensuring work efficiency come at a cost, especially when installing gadgets, buying technology, and hiring experts. This is where most small businesses are found wanting due to the lack of funds. However, the cost benefits of such innovations far exceed the initial investment. Here are some ways to enhance work efficiency.
Hire self-motivated workforce
One of the most effective ways to ensure efficiency and productivity is by hiring a self-motivated workforce. No matter the level of investment, hiring the wrong people or putting the wrong persons into strategic positions would badly affect your business. Your workforce should be action-driven and innovative. But, this wouldn’t happen in a vacuum.
After hiring the right hands, you should encourage teamwork and collaboration. Each employee should have a clear role to avoid overstepping boundaries, which sometimes creates an ineffective working environment because the employees would feel they are not solely responsible for specific tasks. You can also introduce award schemes to reward the best-performing workers.
Delegate some duties
This is especially ideal for small businesses and startups that cannot afford in-house workers. Most entrepreneurs try to do everything from administration to marketing. Doing a little of everything hurts efficiency and productivity as a whole and curtails the development of your business. So, why don’t you relieve yourself of all that stress by delegating some duties to a virtual assistant (VA)?
A virtual assistant can take care of administrative duties while you concentrate on core business duties like meeting clients and suppliers, sourcing for funds, and expansion plans. VAs are affordable, result-oriented, and very dependable.
Automate
In this technological world, you cannot be doing things in the old ways. Every serious business is doing away with manual entries and adopting software to run related operations effectively. Your administrative duties like calendar scheduling, receipt and invoicing, bookings, email response, social medial response, and payroll management, among others, should all be automated. This allows your employees to concentrate on the core duties of the business.
Automation should be rolled out with care to avoid messing up your operations. Start by piloting the process in certain areas before total rollout. You may need a guide in switching your business with automation to prevent avoidable mistakes.
Take advantage of Tech
With technology, small and big businesses can maximize their opportunities. By incorporating technology, businesses can improve office communication, reach out to new and old customers, and sourcing for materials without moving from the office.
Technology has also made sales and marketing easier. With e-commerce sites and social media networks, businesses can sell goods and services globally without hindrance. For example, addiction treatment marketing can be done by leveraging various digital marketing platforms. You can reach out to millions of potential clients by effectively running social media ads. You can set out online stores to sell your products everywhere.
When making and receiving payments, you can use online platforms like Payoneer, Paypal, and Skrill. All these can improve efficiency and make work easier.
Proper supervision and monitoring
You had a strict recruitment process and thankfully were able to hire employees who can work with little or no supervision. However, you should have a supervision and monitoring team that works underground to monitor the work output of every worker. Through monitoring, you can identify the flaws within your workforce, and the tools and motivation they lack, so you can adopt various ways to manage/improve the situation.
Improve employer-employee relationship
The employer-employee relationship is critical in the development of every business. There should be a conducive and friendly relationship at the workplace where everyone can easily relate with another. Management should be deliberate in achieving this, including the top management being open and accessible. You can introduce departmental meetings and get-togethers, an avenue where top management meets and interact with subordinates. There should also be complaint channels for employees to register their dissatisfaction with work-related issues.
Have break periods
A tired mind quickly commits mistakes. You should have break periods within your daily work schedules to allow employees to take some minutes of rest. It will enable them to relieve stress and improve cognition. With this, they bring in new energy, which improves work efficiency.
As a businessman, you are really supposed to consider all these factors and aspects to ensure the smooth running of your business.
