One of the major factors that determines the success or failure of a business is the efficiency of their business practices. But this is something too few businesses take the time to figure out.
You go through the same processes daily and weekly and probably never stop to think about whether they’re efficient or not. But with a little time assessing and planning, you can work much smarter. The result is a streamlined business where you can focus more on important things and not daily routine tasks.
So, how do you know when it’s time to examine your business processes?
Tasks that Take Too Long
You may notice that certain tasks seem to take much longer than they should. This is a sign that you need to think about your business practices. You may just get the feeling something takes longer than it should, or you can conduct a time audit to discover exactly where you’re wasting time. Then, you can focus on these processes and look for ways to improve them.
Important Tasks Not Getting Done
You might find that when you have important things to do, everything gets squeezed. You either can’t find the time or the routine tasks you need to do end up losing their allotted time. You should be spending your time on high level tasks, not getting bogged down in the daily to-do.
Ask Your Team for Feedback
Your team might know of areas that could be improved that you hadn’t noticed. They may have ideas about their own tasks. Regularly seek feedback from your employees. Ask them if they have any issues or get them to perform time audits. Find out where they spend the bulk of their time.
Map out Your Business Processes
Sometimes it helps to go through and document your business processes. By mapping them out, you can see where things could be done more efficiently. Another benefit of doing this is that you can create protocols that make employee training or outsourcing easier.
Start with Results
Consider your business goals and which activities help you progress toward those goals. How much time are you and your staff spending on these activities? Rather than looking at activities that waste time, looking at those that get results can help you figure out ways to improve.
How to Improve Business Processes
Once you’ve found some processes to improve, here are some things you can do:
Examine each step of your business processes to see where you can tighten up.
Look for bottlenecks in the steps where something holds up the work’s progress.
Consider what the task’s flow should ideally look like and compare with its current workflow.
Secure resources that can help tasks get done more efficiently.
Get feedback from all stakeholders on ways to improve.
Look for tasks you can delegate, outsource, or automate.
All too often, businesses don’t take the time and effort needed to analyze and improve their processes. However, this is an investment in time and energy that you’ll save later. Make this a priority and you’ll see more results from what you do every day.
Do you want to learn more about streamlining your business processes? Download my free Business Systems Audit Checklist to assess your current processes. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD.
