Efficiency and productivity go hand in hand, so it is worth reviewing some of the core policies, tools and operational processes within your business if you want to bolster both of these aspects. What is an example of streamlining a business?
How to Streamline a Business To Save Time and Money
In order to see tangible improvements, there are a few routes to take, so let’s investigate a collection of some of the smartest strategies which are both efficient and cost-conscious as well.
Use Project Management Platforms to Fuel Collaboration and Hit Deadlines
Regardless of the industry you occupy, you will doubtlessly have projects on the boil within your business that have to be carefully stewarded so that the best outcomes are achieved. Doing this manually is taxing and time-consuming, but with tools for successful project management available in abundance, you don’t have to battle to meet deadlines alone.
Better still, you can match the project management tool you pick to the scale of your organization and your budget. If you only have a small team, there are free tools out there, or tools like Monday.com and Hubstaff which have free trials for you to take advantage of.
If you are in charge of a larger company, there are big-scale solutions like Nifty and Teamwork to consider. Bear in mind that project management software platforms are not just well suited to streamlining internal collaboration, but can also catalyze external partnerships with third parties, whether that’s freelancers, clients or anyone else for that matter.
Get Input From Employees
If you are scratching your head trying to work out where improvements to productivity can be made, or efficiency savings can be gleaned, why not talk to the team members who are actively involved in leveraging business tools and processes every day?
Proactively seeking feedback from employees, and also encouraging them to speak up on an ad hoc basis, will help to grease the wheels of your organization. It should empower employees to feel like they have a stake in the firm, and leave them feeling more listened-to and fulfilled in their roles, whatever rung of the ladder they are currently on.
Automate Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Building and maintaining relationships with customers is the key to a long-running, stable business and brand. It’s not enough to have great sales and marketing; you also need to be aware of the value you can glean from keeping customers loyal and earning repeat business, not just winning them over once.
Like project management, this used to be a draining prospect, but with modern CRM tools, you can accelerate and automate so many aspects of customer relationship management. The majority of the big names in this space, such as Zoho and Salesforce, charge a per-user fee each month, but you get a whole host of features and functions for the price you pay.
From artificial intelligence-enhanced lead generation to third party service integration and email marketing, the right CRM could be a surprisingly holistic solution to the customer acquisition and retention challenges your business is facing. It’s all about balancing the cost of these tools against the likely value you will gain from their use. Looking at the time and money you will save overall will make it very easy to justify adding them to your arsenal.
Unify Communication
We have touched on aspects of communication already, but it is worth reappraising the way that a fragmented approach to keeping colleagues in touch with one another can lead to unnecessary bottlenecks in the productivity of an entire organization. If people are having to track conversations across email, instant message, SMS, face-to-face meetings and phone calls, it’s easy to see how confusion can spread and inefficiencies can be exacerbated.
It is wise to put together a consistent policy on communication which team members all adhere to, and also provide them with the tools they need to fulfill their responsibilities without impediment. As you’d expect, there is a similarly broad array of communication tools for business out there, from Slack and Zoom to Skype and even Discord. The point is not to get too bogged down in choosing the perfect platform, but rather to simply ensure that everyone is on the same one.
Example of Streamlining a Business
Now you have a few examples of streamlining a business. There is no excuse to delay making positive organizational changes any longer.