With the spirit of rebirth and growth all around us, perhaps it’s time to give your business practices a quick spring clean. When you’re busy dealing with immediate operational priorities each day, it’s easy to stop thinking about new ideas or solutions. So it’s worth taking the opportunity the new season allows us to analyze the way you work – or give it an overhaul.
There are several key areas you could focus on initially, so we’ll take each one in turn as set out below:
Productivity
Have you got the right checks and balances in place and do you really know how much your company is producing? That might sound an obvious question, but it can so often be an issue many business owners are unclear about.
There are lots of tools available to monitor your business’s productivity nowadays – including a host of technology based solutions. One idea is to look at measurable inputs and outputs, or learn how to keep costs down and put plans in place where you need to. These techniques work best for any business that produces goods, like a factory, but can also be used effectively in other situations.
You could, maybe, seek 360 feedback from colleagues to judge the productivity of employees, including people above or below them in hierarchy. For this to work properly, everyone needs to understand each other’s roles well, though – and their major job functions.
Or perhaps you could have daily check-ins to see if your team is on task – and everyone understands what needs to be done. Or try exploring time tracking software or project management tools; they can measure productivity, in data form, usefully at a glance.
Profitability is another measure you can use to analyze productivity, but it is isn’t always as straightforward as it seems. But for a creative business, for example, it’s particularly useful – as it doesn’t penalise the time employees take to think and devise.
Your business IT
To put it simply, is the current IT you’re using for your small business really working well for you? Are your systems aligned or are you putting up with a mish-mash of outdated and/or inherited technology?
You don’t want to waste precious time when you run a company, or ever miss business critical information. So it’s worth consulting professionals at https://www.intellectsoft.net/services/enterprise-development to find the best way forward and an ideal IT solution. This can prevent employees having to work around any current limitations and integrate your software effectively, so it works best for you.
Or you could look at developing options designed specifically for your company – to address any particular company need. Whatever you choose, you can be sure it will bring benefits and help you consolidate, innovate and improve your IT.
Customer need
Are you on top of what your customer base really wants from you, or are you at risk of making assumptions? When you’ve been in business a while, it’s easy to think this is something you understand perfectly – but don’t let yourself get too complacent. To maximise your potential and profitability, you need to ensure you and your customer are on the same page.
Encourage feedback – both on social media and via other methods and always make sure you’re on top of market trends. Research the area you work in regularly, find out what similar businesses are offering and stay ahead of the competition.
Good Communication
Do you understand how to communicate effectively as a business both internally or externally and how important that is for a business to function at its best? Good communication has many benefits for you and your business – it provides clarity for you and your team as a starting point.
And, according to a recent study, companies with good practices in this area are three and a half times more likely to outperform competitors. So make sure everyone understands what you’re trying to achieve and keep your employees on message and engaged.
Good communication prevents conflict and misunderstandings developing and ensures your customers are clear on your offer. It also increases brand awareness, trust, respect and builds bonds – so everyone’s a winner when you get this spot on. So why not revise how you communicate internally in your business and look at developing communication strategies around your major key projects?
We hope this advice will help you achieve more this year – and inspire you to give your ways of working a spring clean. It’s well worth taking the opportunity to refresh your business practices – and ensure this is the year when you really excel.
