By Jerry Mooney
Waste is one of the single greatest enemies of business. It gets in the way of tasks that make you money and it throws your money down the drain. The approach of some business owners is to just throw more manpower and more effort at problems until they’re done. But we’re going to show you the importance of four magical words: work smarter, not harder.
Get your priorities straight
Work interruption is a dastardly thing, but most of the times it doesn’t come from external sources. It comes from the staff being unable to discern which task they should be focusing their efforts on. Consider training them in a novel approach to prioritizing jobs. As well as getting them to rank items on a to-do list, create a to-don’t list as well. Tell them to regularly dump tasks on their plate until they’ve finished the most important ones there.
Eliminate wasted money
Of course, there are tasks that can’t just be conveniently set aside for the moment. So it’s all about figuring out the most efficient way to do them. Sometimes that means spending money to avoid wasting money. Consider tools that could automate or help shorten some of the tasks your employees have to deal with. It’s an investment that can easily pay itself off in the amount they get done in a single day. Use KPIs to track how much they’re getting done before and after each change. That way you ensure you’re not making changes that turn out bad for the business.
Someone else has already taken care of it
For some of the things your business needs, the lazier approach is the way to go. You don’t always have to spend money getting something done scratch. Some businesses can give you just the solution you need with only minimal changes needed. You can avoid spending needless amounts of money on a client web portal by considering things like white label project management.
When to hire and when to outsource
Some tasks need a more hands-on solution, however. So you need to make the decision of whether it’s a good idea or not to employ someone for the job. Sometimes, outsourcing can be the correct answer. For example, it’s a job that you only need done temporarily, consider outsourcing.
Getting more from your team
At the same time, you want more skills at your disposal. Training your team can help you assure that you have those skills without having to hire someone else. When you hire someone, think of how you can develop their skills without having to spend too much on training. Methods like cross-training from other employees can be just the answer. A development plan is also a good incentive to keep employees who are focused on their own growth from leaving the business, too.
As you can see, working smarter is about finding what you shouldn’t be doing, as well as how you should be doing things better. We hope this article helps you realize that effort isn’t always the way. Smarts can be what saves your business.
