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Across all industries, there’s a need to constantly improve efficiencies to stay ahead of the competition. A major factor that plays a crucial part in all of this is strengthening the skills of the firm’s employees.
If the employee’s needs are met — namely with the right mentorship practices, resources, and environment for them to succeed — this will carry over to the business’s prosperity and productivity.
Here are some ways a business can stay ahead of the competition and improve productivity.
1) Equip Your Team With Productivity Tools
Using the right tools like Apromore is paramount to the productivity of your employees. It could spell the difference between spending or saving tens to hundreds of extra working hours a week across teams. That said, all firms should strive to use the best tools that fit the individual needs of their business. These are some areas in business that could be streamlined with the right software solutions:
- Process documentation
- Project management
- Communication
- File storage and document management
However, careful consideration has to be met since what works for other firms may not work suitably in yours. Before fully standardizing a workplace tool for all employees, test it with a few individuals, then gather and synthesize results. Make sure that the business acquires an actual competitive advantage as opposed to switching a tool just for the sake of doing it.
2) Eliminate. Simplify. Automate. Delegate.
Before moving forward with a task, ask yourself this simple question: “Why do this task?” And follow it up with, “How do I make sure that I don’t have to do this again?”
This step is crucial for businesses to make sure key decision-makers don’t waste time with tasks that hog them from more important matters. The fewer tasks you have on your plate, the more efficient you will become. This can be encapsulated in the four-step ethos above.
Can you do away with doing an activity? Eliminate it from your business’s processes. Can you decrease manpower hours by leveraging technology and automation? If the output quality is optimal, do it. Have something on your plate that needs to be done but is teachable? Delegate it to subordinates.
3) Develop Your Team’s Skills
Hiring someone with the right skills is great in the short term, but developing them further and expanding your employee’s opportunities can bring your business to new heights.
If you work in a fast-paced industry, it’s incredibly important to have an employee that has the drive to learn and stay on top of technology. Artificial intelligence, social media, and machine learning have changed drastically in the past decade, for instance — and there are more chances for new industries to spring up in just a few years. Having a team member who can learn from mentorship and independently stay on top of these developments is crucial.
4) Build Unity and Transparency
Aside from working on your teammate’s technical skills, they must have a well-rounded and holistic approach in their contribution to the business as well. Typically, the most important person who has the biggest influence in this are the executives and C-Level decision-makers.
You don’t have to be the best of friends with your colleagues to get the job done. You just have to be able to trust them to tell you things that need to be said at the right time. This will foster a culture of honesty and unity while leaving little space for fruitless second-guessing and time-wasting passive-aggressiveness.
5) Set Realistic Goals
Goals provide vision to your employees. It gives them something to believe in and a reason for them to do the things that they do. However, if a goal places them in too much of a time-crunch, it can hamper their productivity and worsen their output along the way.
One way to fix this? Set SMART Goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. By abiding with these principles, you’ll increase your odds of achieving your employees and team members to achieve their department goals, which will help the business outlook.
6) Reduce Meeting Time
Have you ever heard of Zoom fatigue? A lot of people experience this type of exhaustion after video conferences that have been held online. Krystal Jagoo, MSW, says that Zoom fatigue is similar to the burnout we face when we deal with too much work than we can handle. This exhaustion can lead to difficulty concentrating, difficulty maintaining relationships, and frustration.
While it’s important to be in the loop with your teammates — promoting a culture of decreased meeting time can help lessen the chances of burnout. Plus, all those working hours you spend droning away in needlessly frequent organization-wide Zoom calls can be put to better use doing actual work instead.
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