If you are a business owner, you understand that profits are essential to your survival.
In fact, while there are hundreds of things you must address, the fundamental requirements for all businesses include making a profit and positive cash flow.
While these two are often very different things, they both directly relate to the concept of productivity.
More Than A Word
At the core of your success in a hyper-competitive environment is the ability to continually be more productive. There are volumes of information on this concept, but in simplest terms increasing productivity is finding ways to generate more profit per dollar invested in your company.
Note carefully the idea is not simply “getting more work done.” It is actually possible to make your enterprise more productive by doing less work. When it's more than the occasional afternoon slump slowing your employees down, take a look at these 3 ways to increase your office's overall productivity:
1. Eliminate the dead weight.
The idea of eliminating excess pounds to get more miles per gallon in a car or airplane is appropriate for any business wanting improved productivity. This is a case where Pareto’s Principle, or the 80/20 rule is applicable.
Almost every business will have a small number of customers who create the majority of problems and others who have the lowest profitability. If you eliminate that “dead weight” you will have the capacity to focus on your better customers and add more profitable ones.
2. Focus on your employees and team.
Whether you are a one-person operation or a company with many employees, you rely on others to get the work done on a daily basis. Controlling the costs of these employees is key to ensuring the highest possible productivity. However, it is important to understand this doesn’t mean paying the least possible for good people.
Rather, you want to provide an environment where everyone is working individually in an efficient and productive manner. Many business owners make a mistake by equating salary cost alone to productivity. The important measure is how much profitable work is produced by each dollar of salary. That means even higher wages may be justified if they increase total productivity. For example, many companies are now achieving this increase by using telecommuters and employees who work from home.
3. Make the right investments in your business.
Underlying all efforts to increase productivity is the ongoing investment in more efficient ways to get your work done and to generate customers. Many people think only of machines or hardware when this idea is mentioned. However, you can apply the same concept to your:
- Marketing budget
- Office space
- Production processes
- Logistics and operations
For example, you may ask yourself if you are using inexpensive social media tactics instead of traditional outbound marketing like expensive billboards and newspaper ads. Ask yourself how much you would save by moving to the cloud for your IT needs, and if outsourcing some work to a third party would be more cost and time-efficient.
There are myriad ways you can boost productivity at your work, but you may have to be creative. What have you done to increase productivity at your workplace?
