“Streamlining business processes can boost operational efficiency by 5-15%”, McKinsey reveals. As it stands, your business operations — the processes and tasks your business follows and performs on a daily basis to generate revenue — probably aren’t as slick as they could be. This may be due to outdated technology or inefficient protocols and practices that hinder productivity and collaboration (or a combination of both). But, as a business leader, optimizing operations is essential to eliminate bottlenecks, increase your team’s output and effectiveness, and reduce daily operational costs. Fortunately, task automation software, asset tracking tools, and elimination of unproductive meetings are effective solutions that can unlock productivity and take your business to new heights.
Automate Repetitive Processes
Over 90% of employees say automating repetitive processes boosts their productivity, while almost 90% also say automation tools allow them to get more done without error, a Harvard Business Review survey reveals. Past research has also shown that repetitive administrative tasks (like data search, entry, processing, and analysis) cost businesses an average of nineteen work days per employee per year. Fortunately, by automating time-consuming (yet essential) low-value activities, leaders and teams alike will have more time and energy to dedicate to high-value tasks (such as, designing new products/services or strengthening relationships with customers or clients, for example).
So, consider places where your operations could be made more efficient. For instance, perhaps your team always manually posts tweets to advertise your company’s latest blog posts. Instead, use an automation tool (like Buffer, Sprout Social, or Hootsuite) to make this happen automatically. You can also invest in business process management software to automate and optimize workflows across teams. This software is low-code, and you can request an initial demo to see how it can specifically aid your unique business operations and objectives.
Use Asset Tracking to Optimize Resource Allocation
Asset tracking — an organizational technique that involves keeping a record of all your business’s physical assets and tracking them in real-time — optimizes business operations and increases asset utilization by 20%. When you have complete visibility over your assets and how they’re used, you’re then better able to assign equipment to the right tasks at the right time. That means none of your resources go unused — so you always make the most of your investments — and your projects therefore get completed faster.
Asset tracking also reduces equipment loss by 80%. When you don’t keep track of your assets, they can be easily misplaced or forgotten about, which means they’re either being underused or not used at all. This not only kills efficiency, but it can also get needlessly expensive as you end up paying for costly equipment lease renewals you don’t actually need. Fortunately, barcode asset tracking minimizes loss as assets are scanned each time they’re moved and used and the real-time data made viewable on a central platform. You can therefore easily keep tabs on asset location and usage patterns and check they’re being used to the best advantage. This is a simple and affordable method that doesn’t require specialized equipment or a big learning curve, and yet can generate an ROI of up to 200%.
Eliminate Needless Meetings
When meetings are held 40% less often, employee productivity increases by 71%, Forbes reports. Indeed, excessive and/or unproductive meetings also hinder operational efficiency as they eat into valuable time and distract teams from work. In fact, 54% of employees often don’t even understand what their next actions should be following a meeting, which further highlights just how ineffective they are. So, to affirm your meetings support rather than hinder your team’s operational efficiency, cancel routine meetings that are no longer needed — or at least schedule them less often.
Also, always create an agenda for each meeting, and make it as specific as possible. So, for example, avoid generic topics like “project progress review”. Rather, drill deeper into specifics. For example: “What are the three biggest risks now jeopardizing project success?”. Listing the agenda topic as a question encourages your team to come pre-prepared with insights and solutions.
Optimizing operations can drive efficiency and productivity across the board. Task automation software, asset tracking tools, and streamlined meetings are effective strategies that can eliminate bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and allow your teams to do their best work.
Nina S. Blake is a writer with a research journalism background, who is always eager to explore new niches and tackle diverse subjects.
