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Did you know that the average employee is interrupted every 3 minutes? What about that the average office worker is only productive for about 60% of the workday?
If you’re a business owner or a manager in most types of businesses, you likely don’t feel very encouraged by these statistics. The last thing you want is an unproductive office.
What can you do to change this around? How can you get your business on the same level as successful businesses with high productivity and efficiency levels?
Learn more about becoming an efficient business below, and start the glow-up today.
1. Try to Limit Interruptions
Instead of having meetings scattered at different times each week, for example, aim for the exact time slot of time for each recurring meeting. For necessary meetings that pop up, try to schedule them for times in which you typically have slumps in production.
Everyone has their own specific peak productivity times, so it is a good idea to talk with your team about when they are most productive and avoid all interruptions during that time whenever possible.
2. Trust Automation
Some people don’t want to automate because they don’t think it’s reliable. Others think it is too expensive.
However, did you know that automation is one of the best ways to get things done quickly when running a business? If you use it correctly and you’re not interfering with it repeatedly, it can be more accurate and consistent than the average human.
Even if you’re not ready to automate every possible task, there is, you should still be considering automation for basic things like paystub distribution or sending receipts to vendors. A paystub generator is something that can save you time and money. It can be hard to trust automation if you’re used to a more hands-on business management style, but once you try it, you’ll be extremely happy with all of the extra time you and your employees have to focus on other tasks.
3. Focus on Execution
A lot of people believe that they are excellent multitaskers, when in truth, they may not really be doing the things they are doing any more efficiently.
In reality, you’re really just chipping away on multiple projects little by little, which may end up requiring more time for just one thing to get completed.
Instead of encouraging yourself or other employees to multitask, try to focus on single-tasking instead. This is when you focus on just one task from start to end until it is completely executed.
4. Discourage Unnecessary Meetings
Most of us that have worked in the corporate world have, at some point, received a “Got a minute?” message from a coworker that wants to have a quick chat about something. So, we might stop what we are doing to have a video or phone call with this person to talk about a specific task or answer some questions.
Most of the time, these meetings are terrible for efficiency.
The first reason they don’t help with business efficiency is that they create an unnecessary distraction, which we talked about in our first point. The second reason they should be avoided is that they are almost never going to be “just a minute” long, as the minute turns into five, ten, or fifteen minutes to cover all questions the other worker has.
Make sure that your employees know to schedule meetings in advance to talk about projects, deadlines, or whatever else so they aren’t interrupting other employees. Be sure that they are setting strict time limits on these as well to deter time-wasting, especially if it’s during a peak productivity time.
5. Use Task Management Software
Email or instant messenger tools are not always the best way to communicate with a whole team. Instead, you should try to use task management software so that all of the communications are in one spot and easily accessible.
If you still want to rely on certain business telecom services, you should consider a company like iCompario, which is constantly growing and changing.
Remember that communication and easy access to required information is important, so you will want to keep track of your progress efficiently to make sure things are going in the right direction near deadlines. Using task management software along with telecom services, if necessary, is the best way to do this.
6. Know When to Relax
Remember that not every little thing in your business is always going to be as efficient as possible, and while that may not be the best news, remember that this is perfectly normal. You’re still working with real human beings who have thoughts, emotions, and physical limitations, so you shouldn’t be panicking if every day isn’t as efficient as the last.
Remember that the most important goal is growth for many businesses. You want to strive for as much efficiency as possible but always focus on your goals toward growth first and foremost.
By getting feedback from employees, monitoring the impact, and trial and error, you’ll be able to quickly see what is and isn’t helping you with efficiency and meeting those goals.
Run a More Efficient Business With These Tips
No matter what industry you’re in, you can run a more efficient business by focusing more on automation, eliminating unnecessary distractions or meetings, and more.
Remember to always keep your business goals in mind whenever you’re making any changes, and talk to your employees about how they feel before and after to get a better idea of what is working vs. what needs more adjustment.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you should check out our other posts like this in our business sections next.
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