Ensuring your company is run as tightly as possible is one of the best things you can do to stay profitable. But all too often, when people talk about efficiency they mean "cutbacks". In this article, we show you five ways you can improve the efficiency of your business, fast, without unnecessary pain.
In his classic book “The Mythical Man-Month”, Frederick Brooks showed how adding manpower to a project could make it less efficient, even to the point of delaying the project. As your business grows and develops, the same may well be true for it.
That’s why keeping efficiency at the front of your mind at all times is vital for an owner-manager of a small company, especially when business slows down.
Keep your business under constant review
Once you have grown your business to the point where delegating most of the day-to-day running becomes a real option, you should have the time available to fulfil one of the most valuable roles of a chief executive: constantly reviewing business efficiency.
This means questioning several areas of the business about the scope for improvements. There are facilities issues to consider: could you save money by moving premises, for example, and what would be the impact to your overall business? What IT and communications systems do you have in place, and how could these be consolidated into a single supplier for a better deal? Can your staff be utilised more effectively?
Look at each of the elements of your business in turn, and ask key questions constantly.
Look again at travel plans
Travel is often a big part of business expenditure, especially for a sales-focused company that does a lot of business abroad. But with technologies like phone and Web conferencing you can cut out unnecessary travel with minimal expenditure, saving your travel budget for when a face-to-face meeting is vital.
And there’s an additional benefit to using conferencing instead of travel: you will be cutting your carbon emissions, meaning that you get the business benefits of “going green” while saving yourself money.
Use flexible working and home working
Flexible working has long been acknowledged to have many business benefits, including improved staff retention, reduced absence and employee turnover, and reduced stress. Planning for flexible working is vital if you want to get the most from it, however, make sure your flexible working system is reviewed properly before you implement it.
Train to gain
Training isn’t something that you might think of when talking about improved efficiency, but it can certainly contribute to making your employees more highly-skilled and therefore efficient.
And training doesn’t have to be expensive. If you concentrate on internal training, given by employees to other employees, it can cost you very little – allowing you to focus what budget you have for training on increasing the overall skill-set of your company.
Improve motivation
A well-motivated workforce is one that is more likely to work efficiently and effectively. Motivation takes many forms, but one of the key elements to it is empowering employees and allowing them to take more responsibility for their work.
Again, this is an area which flexible working can improve along with training – and, of course, ensuring that the right kind of bonus scheme is in place!
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