Swift Efficiency Boosts: 7 Bite-Sized Wins for Your Business
In the hustle and bustle of year-end activities, implementing quick and straightforward efficiency improvements can make a significant impact on your business. Here are seven bite-sized efficiency wins that you can put into action before you switch on your out of office:
1. Client Relationships | Email Signature Optimisation:
Check, standardise and optimise email signatures for consistency and professionalism. Include key contact information and relevant links to social profiles, and don’t forget any festive season specials or alterations to your trading hours
2. Information Technology | Run a software Lunch & Learn:
Host a lunch and learn session for your team to dive deeper into one of your essential software tools. Identify common challenges, share tips, and address knowledge gaps. This interactive session not only enhances individual skills but also fosters a collaborative learning environment, and will likely help you identify process improvements!
3. People | Daily Stand-up Meetings:
Add some energy into the day as you approach the end of the year by introducing short daily stand-up or walking meetings for teams to share updates. This promotes quick communication, enhances team collaboration, and keeps everyone on the same page - vital as we all get busier trying to get through things before year end.
4. Delivery | Automate Tasks:
Use a tool like Zapier to automate repetitive tasks and take care of things while your business is closed or you go on leave. For example, you could set up a "New Customer" trigger in your CRM to automatically send a personalized welcome email, saving time and ensuring a prompt response to new clients.
5. Capturing & Leveraging Knowledge | Cloud Storage Cleanup:
We love a good end of year de-clutter. Take 30 minutes to organise and clean up your cloud storage, delete unnecessary files and create a clear folder structure for easy access to important documents.
6. Marketing | Social Media Content Calendar:
Just because you might be taking a break, doesn’t mean your socials have to. Create a simple social media content calendar for the next month. Plan out your posts in advance, including captions and hashtags, to maintain a consistent online presence, then use a platform like Hootsuite or Later to schedule and automatically post updates while you’re away.
7. Finance Function: Implement Automated Invoice Reminders:
If you’re not using them already, set up automated invoice reminders in your accounting software (e.g., Xero). Be sure to review the text you use and make any tweaks if needed because of the festive season, improving cash flow and reducing manual follow-ups.
These bite-sized efficiency wins require minimal effort but can lead to immediate improvements in productivity and organisation - helping you get the fun festivities faster!
Did you know that the average business has over 100 processes across 13 different business areas?
A Key Business Process Map is an important blueprint to give you visibility over the cogs and levers that make your business’s wheels spin, it’s a great tool to help you identify your next improvement focus.
What does your Key Business Process map look like?
If you don’t have one, let’s create it together.
We’ve been helping businesses across a range of industries map out and document their Key Business Processes, and we can help you create yours - giving you a tool to support ongoing operational efficiency and continuous improvement for your business.
Our two hour Process Discovery Session is a great starting point if you know you have opportunities to work more efficiently, but you need a helping hand in bringing a plan to life and implementing improvements.