While your company may be running relatively smoothly, you may find that it is not running as efficiently as you’d like. Perhaps you feel like you’re missing time to build strong connections with your customers, or that company meetings are lasting too long.
Maybe it seems like you are working on multiple projects, but things don’t seem to get completed as quickly as they should. Whichever is the case for your small business, optimizing efficiency may be the key.
According to Howlader & Co, a firm of business accountants in London, inefficiency undermines productivity, which can affect profits.
In this article, we’ve compiled a few tips to help you improve your small business’ efficiency.
Outsource Processes Wherever Possible
To save you and your employees more time to focus on core activities, try outsourcing some tasks that inhibit productivity. One of the easiest tasks to outsource is your company’s phone service. By hiring an outside answering service to take your business calls and answer customer inquiries, you can increase productivity. This will also improve the quality of face-to-face interactions, as you and your employees won’t be interrupted by outside calls.
There are tasks in several other areas that can be outsourced as well, such as in accounting, payroll, digital marketing, and more. If you find that you or your employees are spending more time than you’d like working on non-core activities, outsourcing may be the way to go. You may also decide to outsource these specific tasks to someone who has more expertise and can complete them faster.
Limit Work Interruptions to Maximize Time
Long meetings scattered throughout the week can disrupt your employees’ workflow and concentration. Continual email and chat notifications can also be a big source of distraction. Try setting aside a specific day of the week for necessary meetings, and time for focused work.
Most email providers also offer free services that halt notifications from popping up and causing a distraction. This way your employees will be able to check notifications between tasks when it is not an interruption.
It is also a good idea to begin holding daily, 10-minute company meetings at the start of the day to keep everyone on the same page. You can utilize them to update everyone on daily performance goals, company updates, new opportunities, or to recognize the accomplishments of your employees. These meetings should be brief and informative to boost morale and eliminate time asking around for updates.
Stop Multitasking
While it may seem more efficient to work on multiple projects at once, it is actually far better to focus on a single task until it is completed. This is because if given the ability to jump between tasks, many projects could be left close to completion for a long time. While you may feel productive by keeping multiple projects in the works, you won’t actually have as many completed products.
There is also a considerable amount of time that is wasted while switching between tasks. Try working with your team to focus on one task at a time to see how much quicker you’ll be able to finish.
Final Thoughts
As a small business owner, you won’t have as many resources as a large company would. This means it is even more important to fully utilize all the resources you have access to. The primary key to an efficient business is to ensure that everyone in your company is focused on the work at hand and looking for new ways to improve. We hope that by following these tips, you will be able to optimize your time and allow your business to run more efficiently.
Interesting related article: “What is Offshore Outsourcing?“