One thing that doesn’t get discussed enough when talking about small businesses is the importance of time management. You might have everything you need to run a successful company, but if you are unable to keep up with your clock, then you can still struggle to get off the starting line. Factors involving workload, workplace environment, and mentality can play large roles in the time efficiency of a small company.
It’s a cliché, but when running a startup, your time really is money. Every minute you waste could have been used to create value for your company, and those minutes can quickly add up if you are struggling with activeness. For instance, you can use a tool to convert Word to PDF online and standardize all your files, meaning you will no longer have to worry about your documents not opening on different devices. You can save plenty of hours by eliminating this obstacle. This little tool could save hundreds of hours across the whole year, saving you and your employees day and money.
If this is something you are having problems with, don’t worry. Organizational skills are something that can be developed, like any other skill, and changing a few practices can lead to impressive results. Here are some of the ways your startup can improve its time efficiency.
On average, people waste over 90 minutes each day at work on tasks and meetings that have nothing to do with their job. As a startup owner, can you afford to lose these 1.5 hours? Over the course of a year, that adds up to nearly 400 hours of job loss. Even if you were only getting minimum wage for your performance, that would still add up to almost $3,000 per year that your business is missing out on.
When you’re running a small company, any task that is not done due to inefficiencies has to be completed during your leisure hours. It’s no wonder that CEOs work an average of 9.7 hours each weekend. This is not good for your work-life balance and can easily lead to burnout. It is essential to make sure day-to-day tasks and overall goals are a necessity to get done first, but it is also important to make sure these goals are realistic and achievable.
Activeness plays a large factor in the distribution of products. When small firms begin to grow, not being effective can make you fall behind the demand for the product and unless you are selling and producing a unique product, the buyers and customers may seek other businesses that will be able to produce and deliver quickly. Everything revolves around time efficiency, and here is how you can improve it.
So, what can you do about this? First, you need to look at the areas that are taking up most of your time. For example, are you spending a large portion of your day answering emails? If so, investing in a social communication tool could be a way to get some minutes back, with McKinsey finding that doing this could increase your productivity by as much as 25 percent.
You might also want to look at one of the many techniques that exist to make tasks more efficient. For example, the Eisenhower Matrix or the Pomodoro Technique are both methods of working and decision-making that help people become more capable and productive. There are a number of different options out there, so choose the one that works best for you.
Another way of improving your capabilities within your business as a whole is by making sure the correct person is delegated the right task. This means seeing which employees do best in different situations, however, it is important to ensure that you do not overburden certain staff who work more productively as this may lead to burnout and a lack of performance. Ensure that if you see any people working less actively than others, ensure that they have the correct training and provide them with the necessary tools to ensure they are doing the best job they can do.
It is important to recognize that this new wave of people known as Gen Z. It is becoming a known fact that Gen Z values the workplace over pay. If a businesses see no value in a Gen Z team, the same will be given back. You may find they would reduce their work efficiency or even leave their current job. This looks bad on the trade due to quick employee turnovers, and it means a higher stress rate on the current staff having to pick up the extra workloads. You will find happy workers will do the task they’re most active in and value the job they have, rather than feeling like a number. It is also crucial to remember in the long run as a business owner, that Gen Z would make up 27% of the workplace by the year 2025, so it is a smart idea to know what improves time efficiency.
Standardization can also help. If you think that you are spending time dealing with a number of different file types, for example, or reformatting documents to look good on different devices, you might want to think about using PDFs as your business’ standard file type.
A lack of efficiency might not seem like a major issue, but it can have wide-reaching effects on your business. Organizations will struggle to grow if they are wasting large amounts of their day, and you might find yourself several steps behind your competitors if they are able to be capable and you aren’t. So overall, make sure to limit distractions, mental exercises such as the Pomodoro technique, know your own and employees’ limits and most of all ensure everyone is happy within the firm as nothing works better and more effectively than someone that does not hate their job.
However, these simple tips will go a long way toward making you more efficient. Keep an eye out for areas in which your brand is unnecessarily spending a lot of hours, and you will be able to identify practices that need to be changed. By doing this, you can create an effective small business that has few obstacles to growth. Most and foremost however is to never undervalue the time it takes someone or yourself to complete a task, as your trade also relies on the quality it produces and consistency. Everything is balanced, and it is important to understand that. Where you can make sure to multitask and ensure your workplace has the means to deal with stress. This means ensuring an open door for employees that are struggling and actually listening. No one likes an open door that gets slammed in your face. Value, respect, and mindfulness can play a huge role in the time efficiency within your small firms.
