There are different ways to become more efficient in a local business without driving the staff crazy. In fact, some changes can be a net positive for them and create ancillary benefits too.
Here are four efficiencies to try in your business today.
1. Ergonomic Setup
Small businesses are often set up in cramped locations where little thought went into creating a comfortable, ergonomic office. Whether every office chair provided lumbar and adequate neck support was secondary to other concerns at the time.
It’s worth pointing out that poor body support when sitting for long periods is detrimental to health. A bad upright position can eventually cause back pain that leads to a staff member being off work and needing medical treatment. Replace any chairs that don’t provide ergonomic support.
2. Get Automated
Use automation to remove basic tasks from employees who don’t enjoy their repetitive nature. More and more tasks can be automated using software to prevent them from needing manual action.
While some staff are fearful of automation when it comes to job security, assure them that it’s the opposite. Higher-level tasks that require intelligent thought, creativity, and real-time improvisation to deal with unanticipated issues are far better uses of their time.
Also, tasks that cannot be done completely on a computer or online and require the human touch are another good example of areas to focus on instead of mundane tasks.
3. Reduce Interruption to Workflow
Interruptions are anathema to deep work. That is to say when trying to work on more important tasks, getting disrupted really sets you back. Research from RescueTime suggests that about half of employees say that they’re interrupted very often with most said that they had to pause their work on several occasions each day to deal with queries.
To get anything meaningful done, it’s important to isolate yourself. This means turning on an autoresponder for email and redirecting urgent queries to the office line. It also requires creating blocks of time where you’re not to be disturbed unless it’s urgent and the matter cannot wait several hours until your focused time is over.
When adopting this approach to workflow, your productivity and that of your staff will skyrocket. It takes a new kind of discipline, but it can be done.
4. Speed Up Financial Deposits
Companies don’t like their staff wasting time queuing in the bank to deposit a customer’s check. They prefer them to be at their desks getting important work completed.
Instead of putting up with the same problem at your office, use a solution provided by Deluxe Financial to digitally deposit checks using a smartphone app. The technology now exists to initiate the financial verification processes on check payments to speed up clearance times by approving them remotely. The system is only being implemented by a third of businesses or less right now, but the ones that do it are realizing the time savings right away.
By focusing on simple efficiencies, businesses can achieve better productivity without needing to increase their spending to get it. This is music to the ears of the finance department tasked with the responsibility of bringing in the financial numbers on budget.
