For many businesses, growth is difficult to plan. It is the role of the Business Development team to assist you in identifying your next growth steps. However, as a business manager, or a team manager, you have the possibility to support your business by reducing waste in cost and time. By helping your team to become more productive, you will be able to free up resources for the Business Development growth strategy.
Build an Interruption-Free Environment
‘Can I borrow your mind 5 minutes?’, ‘Can you have a look at this email for me?’ etc. Interruptions are part of our everyday work life. Studies have revealed that interruptions can cost up to 6 hours a day, which in a workday of 8 hours means a loss of up to 75% of productivity in a day. Put it differently, interruptions mean that up to 75% of your staff wage is wasted.
We, as a modern civilization, have grown used to interrupt colleagues in order to share an issue and sort it together. It becomes essential to spread the message that working time is precious and it should not be interrupted too often. This task is the responsibility of a manager. One word jumps to mind: Meetings. Meetings have become a habit of companies to approach new problems or topics. It is not uncommon for managers and executives to have entire days blocked for meetings during their week. Bill Gates was famous for keeping track of his time in slots of a few minutes. This approach is extremely healthy and productive when one thinks of the cost of a meeting – in terms of drinks, food and wage of those sitting around the table – and of the effectiveness of a meeting. To make the most of your productivity and to set the example for your team, it is key that you only plan effective and indispensable meetings.
Meetings & General Business at the Dynamic Signal HQ in San Bruno, CA. Image by Jim Larrison.
Combine the Information in One Place
Workload varies over the year, as some businesses such as retailers, experience peaks of activities over big holidays seasons and celebrations, while for others the activity is intimately connected to trade shows, business agendas and yearly goals. These activities involve several teams, such as sales, marketing, accounting, administration, operations, etc. In the spur of the hectic day-to-day routine, crucial information detained by another team can slip out of your mind: Has the client already paid? When was the order made? Is there a claim on the product? And many more!
For many, this is a multi-team and multi-tool process, combining customer centers, technical support, accounting team, sales reps, and production lines. Even with the best of will, we are looking here at a demanding time, as different teams will be often using different code names for the same customer. This is why the best way to save your team many troubles is to invest in multi channel software solutions that offer a 360 degrees overview of a client or an order across multiple teams and channels. With this, you can make sure that your team is always aware of the latest updates and can respond accordingly in real time.
Make Amends for Mistakes of The Past
The end of the year is the perfect time to review your business growth and identify areas where your teams could have done better. Often these could be related to the tools used in the office, or to missing specific skills in the team. Many elements could have a direct impact on your everyday productivity and that you have been ignoring until now. Therefore, it is a good idea to plan an open discussion with your team during which you can address factors that they see as an obstacle in their work: Do they feel confident in their skills? How quickly does the computer need to turn on? What kind of training do they miss to be more confident in their work? Do they have access to the latest industry tools? It is essential to approach this review as honestly as possible to be able to build a business that can adapt to new situations and keep innovative to maximize your business productivity in the future.