What is your primary goal as an entrepreneur if not having a successful business? Even though it’s not that easy, you can achieve your goal through productivity. What this means is that your path will be full of challenges. Yes, you will gradually overcome them, and that’s natural. The questions are: “Is the total output of your investments enough?” “Is your small business profitable?” “Does it work with its full potential”? If you are not sure about the answers to such questions, it’s time to make changes.
How can one reach the desired point without seeing the big picture of the whole process? It’s like walking on a rocky road carelessly and without looking down at your feet. Imagine how many times you may fall and get injuries, how much energy and time you will waste. So, only through acting reasonably and productively will you achieve your goal of having business success.
“The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement,” said Helmut Schmidt. Time changes. Even if your business is at its top, you always need to improve and reinforce new ways of accomplishing things and be open to new opportunities and innovations.
Everything mentioned above shouldn’t intimidate you, though. Here we are to help you. This article will provide you with the ten most effective ways to boost the productivity of your business. So, let’s start!
Have Fewer Meetings
To boost productivity and efficiency, most companies have meetings too often. However strange it may sound, it can have the opposite outcome. You hold meetings at the expense of your employees’ working hours. Suppose how many business hours your company loses grabbing them from each of the employees. Team meetings are worth it if there’s something new to share, there are some changes employees should know, or you need their agreement for a decision. Some employers are not aware of what kind of knowledge their employees have and what they need to improve, which complicates the situation. So, before having meetings, you should consider the following questions:
Does it have any goals?
Is it worth holding a meeting with the entire team?
Can’t you share the information via email or chain of command?
Will you stray away from the main discussion?
Use 80/20 Rule
The rule is also called the Pareto principle. It states that roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This principle works in many spheres of life. It helps us understand where to put our energy, resources and not waste our time. From the business perspective, let’s consider two cases where you can use the rule to favor your business success.
80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers.
Based on this data, you should differentiate between those customers who bring a minimal amount of money or just waste your time. Sometimes it’s hard to neglect those around us and treat people unequally. Yet, your goal is to be more productive, isn’t it? If you want to get the results of your input, you should act sensibly. Award your dedicated or potential customers with gift cards, discounts, or something else. They deserve it. Create a relationship with them. This will, no doubt, be a stimulus for boosting productivity in your business.
Give 20% of knowledge to your sales staff, and they’ll be able to handle customer inquiries for 80%
Train your staff in such a way that they can answer the questions of your customers. Focus on the knowledge that will be handier.
Outsource
Very often, small business owners decide to outsource. It’s the practice of hiring another company to perform activities that could be done in your company. Such activities may include accounting, marketing, shipping and logistics, manufacturing, customer service, etc. Most companies outsource mainly to save costs. The reason is that generally, employee compensations between the companies differ. It's efficient to outsource because it let's you focus on your main business and worry a little less about administrative tasks. Low costs are there too because you don't have expenses associated with having employees. Yet, there are also other benefits to take into account. Using this business strategy, your company will also save a great deal of time. Outsourcing is a perfect way to allocate all your resources for more important things. Zeroing in on your business projects rather than wasting time on minor things will increase your company’s competitiveness. There’s also the opportunity to use your HR more effectively, as you won’t have to focus on temporary employees.
Delegate
The majority of small business owners sacrifice themselves for the sake of their company. They want to do everything themselves and in the right way. That is the reason small companies often face the problem of burnout. Most owners take everything on their shoulders. They find it difficult to trust the employees in carrying out tasks that are of great importance. “They cannot have the same vision as me,” they may think. Such people tend to devote even their personal life to their work. According to Small Business Trends, 47% say they have invested in the company's needs regarding having extra money. 86% work even on weekends. Did you find yourself in it? If yes, then you should change some behavioral traits. You should realize that experiencing burnout and micromanaging won’t ever increase productivity and efficiency in your company. Just find trustworthy employees to do essential jobs as well as you.
Prioritize Tasks Using Eisenhower Matrix
Do you still have problems with prioritizing your tasks by urgency and importance? Can’t you tackle the problem of implementing functions in accordance? Why worry? There’s a tool using which you can identify your company’s to-do list. This good time-management strategy will increase both the productivity and the efficiency of your business. Let’s examine.
Eisenhower Matrix consists of four quadrants:
Important and urgent;
Important but less urgent;
Not important, but urgent;
Neither important nor urgent.
The first quadrant suggests that you first do things that are inevitable and need quick completion. Generally, these are the things not depending on you.
The second quadrant is like a schedule. List things that you should do but can’t decide when. Very often, this includes things you tend to put off. So, write them down in the quadrant and keep track of the accordance of implementing them.
The third one includes things that may not need your presence. Here comes the delegation we’ve spoken about above. Find good representatives to be responsible for the tasks.
The last one suggests that you eliminate the things that have no importance and don’t need urgency. Don’t do things that are a waste of time, energy, and resources.
Provide Your Staff With Appropriate Tools
One of the essential components of your company is your staff. Your workforce is like the face of your business. You can never demand anything from the employees unless youprovide them with the appropriate tools, conditions, positive working culture, and attitude. Your team will work effectively in case you make them feel comfortable. Appreciate their efforts and make them happy. Do this by showing your regard towards them and provide the newest and most effective tools. A happy team will be motivated to put in more effort in the workplace. Hurry and make your team happy. If you need ideas for having some team-building activities, we put a list together for you here.
Use Sales Promotions
In this article, we’ve already spoken about promotions in the context of rewarding your devoted customers. Yet, during these harsh times, you can also use this strategy without targeting them. Providing customers with promotions will boost the productivity of your business, as currently, people are short of money. They try to find discounts and promotions out of their will, which will bring success to your business. In this way, you gain a mutual benefit, creating a bond between your customers and retaining them.
Hire Like-Minded Employees
Even in our personal lives, we tend to create relationships with like-minded people. It’s imperative to have people around you sharing the same ideas, goals, and perspectives. Hire people whose primary purpose is not just earning money but also working and assisting the company. Create your “culture fit.” Build your team around the same goals and ideas. Work with people with whom you can draw some parallels in your character, promoting your work productivity.
Have a Mentor or an Advisor
Sometimes it’s crucial having someone to give you advice or an opinion on some issues. The reason is that you cannot have information about everything. Occasionally, you may delve into thoughts and can’t make a proper decision or need approval from someone like you. Find experts or monitors with whom you can be in constant touch. Turn to them to find possible solutions to or consult over any issue.
Don’t Strive For Perfection
“Perfection has to do with the end product, but excellence has to do with the process”-Jerry Moran.
Of course, every employer would like to have a perfect workplace, staff, projects, etc. - this is something unreachable. Instead of focusing on perfection, you’d rather reach your excellence. Nothing is stable. As time passes, new styles, ideas, techniques evolve and challenge us to find solutions to many issues, meanwhile giving the excellent opportunity for constant improvement. It’s more beautiful and motivating, isn’t it?
You’ve already got acquainted with the ten most effective ways to increase productivity in your business. Not everything is easy to obtain, but remember, life has given you all the resources and possible things to reach your goals. Following these ten steps, you’ll find your business thrive and be competitive. Just put all your efforts and energy into the mission. Don’t waste your time!
If you need more advice, we invite you to look at seven additional blogs on our website www.hrlablosangeles.com to promote happy company culture.
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