One of the most important assets a small business has is it’s employees. That is why many experts refer to them as “human capital”. If your team is happy and enjoy what they will do, they are more likely to be productive, get more done, and want to stick around. If you’ve got a high turnover of staff then that can hinder how well the business performs, as time is dedicated to recruiting, rather than conducting tasks vital to the business. If you are able to make some changes to your operations, you can ultimately improve the efficiency and productivity of the business. This will leave you able to focus on the tasks that are going to help the business to grow, not just keep it running day to day. Here are some areas to review.
Efficiency
Think about how your business is currently operating, and then think about the ways that you could change how you work. Change isn’t always easy or welcomed by all, but when done with the right intention it can help to improve things. Make short term and long term lists for each day, week, or month, so that you can prioritize the tasks that you are going to be doing. At least once per year, set strategic goals and objectives. Have the entire team get involved so that they have ownership in the plan.
Reduce Distractions
In the modern world that we live in there can be a lot of things that can distract us from getting on with work in a productive way. For instance, social media is a massive distraction for people at work, as well as ‘life admin’ that can take over. So while taking phones off people or blocking certain websites on the office network aren’t going to be the best options, it is a good idea to talk to the team about expectations and allow them regular breaks where checking their phones and making things like appointments is allowed.
Right Tools and Equipment
Having the right tools to get your job done can massively impact efficiency and productivity. If you have to wait for certain tools to be free or for equipment to be fixed or borrowed, before you can get other things done, then it is going to have an impact on how quickly things can get done. Think about business cloud solutions as another example; when you are using the cloud in the right way it allows you to pick up where you left off from one device to another, and can make remote working much easier.
Support and Realistic Goals
As a manager you need to know your team well so you can see if they are going to be performing at their best or not. If they aren’t, or more could be done about it, then you need to be there to help them to set goals and offer support. When they know they can ask for help and they’ll get it, it makes progress much more likely to be achieved.
