Small business owners have a need to remain productive to maintain competitive in what can be a tough industry. When your staff are working long hours and struggling to keep on top of paperwork and you realise your customers are not getting the attention they deserve, it's probably time to address it.
Whilst a small business may face unique challenges, productivity-training tips are well worth considering and can be applied to all businesses. Here are five ways to encourage greater productivity and engagement from your staff.
1. Training equips employees with the right tools
Staff who are not adequately trained to perform in their role at the required level will greatly benefit from undertaking a range of courses. Not only will their productivity levels significantly improve as they will have the necessary tools to perform, but their level of motivation and ability to confidently engage will greatly improve too.
When you are running a small business you need all hands on deck. You cannot afford to have some one not able to perform due to lack of ability. Whether it is a refresher course, an industry accredited training program or leveraging off business coaching, you'll enjoy the positive outcomes.
2. Ensure your technology is up to scratch
All businesses leverage off technology and the latest features allow us all to work smarter and not harder. Using cloud storage enables us all to access data no matter where we are. Use of wireless devises means we can work remotely and yet still perform to the expectations stowed upon us. Ensuring your staff have access to technology that allows them to be efficient means a significant improvement in productivity.
3. Review business systems
Take the time to review current processes with a view to automating, removing obstacles and looking to take your business to the next level. Streamlining systems allow you to gain back much-needed time as you ultimately find faster more efficient ways of achieving the same goal. In many cases the simple act of documenting processes helps to easily identify errors or steps that are no longer valid. You'll also have greater confidence that your systems are aligned and that the service you provide customers is consistent.
4. Set deadlines and communicate them
Make it a business-wide initiative to not only set regular goals, but also provide all employees with their own deadlines to help you all achieve as a group. Providing structure helps to boost productivity and when staff are communicated with clearly, and on a timely basis, errors are minimised, leaving no room for assumptions on when a task is due or how long it may take to complete.
5. Cross training eliminates risk
Whilst training is essential, cross training can be the difference between ensuring a process continues to flow or downtime is an unnecessary result. When staff are trained in a number of areas they can confidently step in when workloads increase, when other employees are offsite or when the need arises for additional hands on deck. When you make your business less dependent on an individual you greatly reduce risk and maintain a superior level of productivity and efficiency.
Everyone has the opportunity to gain more time in their day and significantly improve their level of productivity. Sometimes it's the smallest areas where we fine tune that can give us the greatest results.
Shared by pepworldwide.co.nz
