Ray Pigott Time is one of the most valuable resources that you have in your business. In fact, in essence, time is money, because you pay people to devote their time to the tasks you assign them. Unfortunately, when running a small business time tends to be wasted more than any other resource, something that will ultimately hurt your bottom line. The good news is that there are several ways you can minimise the wastage of time. Keep reading to find out what they are.
Batch tasks and time
One way to minimize time wastage is to use a batching system. This means instead of doing lots of small tasks as they pop up through the day, you batch similar jobs together and dedicate a swath of time to completing them all in one go. Indeed, because this means less chopping and changing, both mentally and in terms of the equipment you are using, it can ensure things are completed much more efficiently.
Automate repetitive processes
Automation is not a new phenomenon in business, but the technology currently available does mean that it is more widespread than ever. The great thing about automation is that it can be easily applied to many functions and processes of your business from invoicing to generating leads. Something that once again means your employees have plenty of time to dedicate to the tasks that require a human touch.
Use outside services
Another great way of making the best use of time in your business is to use outside services to help you. One way of doing this is to find a freelancer for a specific task such as writing or graphic design, hand the brief to them and let them professionally complete the task, something that will free up your staff to focus on completing their own roles to a high standard.
Another way of using outside services to reduce the wastage of time in your business is to rely on them to complete mundane and relative tasks for you such as the filling, archiving, and shredding of documents. Indeed, many professional document archive services have excellent security and can send the papers you need to your business address fast. Something that frees your staff to focus their time on more mission-critical tasks that have a significant impact on your bottom line.
Ban multitasking
Last of all, one of the worst things you can insist on in your business is multitasking. Multitasking is when you expect workers to do more than a single task at once, and it is actually something that doesn’t exist. Indeed, when an employee is multitasking what they are really doing is switching between one task to another very fast. Unfortunately, this is a hugely inefficient way to work and only results in poor focus, exhaustion, and more mistakes.
With that in mind encouraging a much more mindful work environment is a much better idea. It will save you time in the long run too, as things will get completed with the proper attention and done right the first time.
