Category Archives: Business Tips

5 Ways to Up Your Workplace Efficiency

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workplace efficiency

“Work smarter, not harder,” they say. We’ve all heard this modern productivity axiom by now, but there’s actually a lot of truth in the statement. Working hard is important, but working efficiently is even better. The two combined can lead to incredible results.

So, what’s the secret to making work more efficient? This is a question that business owners and managers ask themselves every day. This article outlines some ways employers can enable and motivate their workers to become even more efficient without working them into the ground.

1. Implement Self-Service Options

This one is a no-brainer for appointment-based businesses operating in the modern era. Self-service can open up so many possibilities for both your business and its customers. For example, having online booking options takes a huge load off of your employees and simultaneously empowers your customers. Clients can set and adjust appointment times whenever they want, and employees no longer have to spend hours on the phone coordinating bookings.

This frees up a lot of time for your employees during a regular shift. Instead of manning the phones all day, they can work on other projects. This could be as simple as staying on top of office organization or taking part in training to prepare for other roles.

In addition to online appointment scheduling, you can implement a self-check-in system for when customers arrive to their bookings. A tablet or kiosk can do all of the work that a front desk representative can. Customers can signal their presence and make relevant notes in their customer portal upon their arrival.

2. Embrace Office Automation

Businesses have myriad ways to automate processes, from CRM systems that will auto-email leads to social media tools that will auto-post on Instagram. But even humbler forms of automation can improve your workplace efficiency. There are myriad small tasks that consume workers’ attention during the day. A coffee maker set to auto brew will give your office manager 15 minutes back each morning, and that’s just one example.

A smart thermostat saves energy and keeps the temperature even so that extreme heat or cold don’t throw your employees for a loop. Smart light fixtures are likewise energy efficient and can also be set to dim or turn off without any human intervention. No one will have to traipse through the office at the beginning or end of the workday turning lights on and off. While these solutions might seem small, together they can make your workplace more efficient than you realize.

3. Retool — or Replace — Meetings

Companies waste a lot of time in meetings. Some estimates state that over 30 hours are squandered each month in meetings that aren’t necessary. Simply put, most meetings can be condensed or bypassed entirely to allow for greater workplace efficiency.

One solution is to plan meetings more effectively. Have an agenda prepared and share it with all participants beforehand. Practice getting to the point and rein in discussions to make sure the group doesn’t get sidetracked. Better yet, replace frequent meetings with constant communication through technology.

Take project management software, for instance. Instead of a status update meeting, you can use a digital chatroom to send messages, updates, and reminders. These can be addressed to the entire company, a specific department, or even to an individual. Such communications keep parties informed and don’t cut into productivity like a formal meeting where everyone is trapped inside a room with no escape.

4. Crunch the Numbers

The value of data cannot be underestimated. Insights gleaned from data can help you serve your customers better, increase revenue, and also make your workplace more efficient. Gathering data is easy; it’s knowing what to do with the data you have that’s the trickier part.

Let’s focus on workplace efficiency, which you can monitor with a time-tracking tool like Toggl or Harvest. Here are some examples of workplace data you can track:

  • Number of tasks completed on average per day
  • Amount of time spent per task
  • Amount of time spent per task category
  • Average time spent in meetings
  • Hours worked per week

This doesn’t have to be your full list, but it’s certainly a good place to start. Once you have a sufficient sample size, you can start to make some conclusions about what needs to change to increase productivity and efficiency. You may notice that efficiency takes a huge dive for the last hour of the day, for example. You might opt for a shorter workday or add an additional 15-minute break to try to keep energy levels high.

5. Improve Employees’ Quality of Life

No matter what the numbers say, sometimes the best adjustments you can make are to the quality of life in the office. Happy employees are more productive employees, so seek out work-life enhancement opportunities. Ergonomic solutions such as sit-stand desks and optimized keyboards can help employees work more comfortably for longer periods of time. Improved lighting can make early mornings and gray days more bearable.

Helping your employees outside of the office will often improve their efficiency on the clock. Benefits such as hybrid work or childcare services give workers fewer things to worry about at home, so they’ll be less distracted while working. Workers who also feel cared for by their employers are also more likely to stick around for the long haul. High retention rates improve company efficiency, as you won’t be spending a lot of time and resources on constant training and hiring cycles.

With greater workplace efficiency, you’ll see improvements in company profits, customer satisfaction, and work quality. To maintain optimal efficiency, you’ll need to continue to adapt, so keep looking for new ways to enable your workers to be the best they can be.

Image Credit: Pixabay; Pexels; Thank you!

How to Deal With a Customer Complaint Quickly

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Customer Complaint

No matter what industry you’re in, customers want quick responses when they contact you with complaints. Customer service agents similarly want to resolve issues on the first try. First contact resolution (FCR) is a metric that plays a crucial role in whether your customers keep coming back. It also affects whether they refer you to others. Let’s dive into some best practices for resolving customer tickets quickly — for the good of both your customers and your agents.

Train Agents to Ask Good Questions

Good FCR starts with training agents to ask questions that uncover the root causes of issues. Again, Role-playing can help agents learn to do this.

Let’s say your company sells architectural software. In one scenario, a customer named Sara calls your help center. Sara was unable to save a project and now needs help recovering it. In the scenario, the agent, Drew, helps Sara recover her project. Then, as instructed, Drew closes by asking if there’s anything else Sara needs. Sara says, “Nope! I guess it was user error! Hopefully, I’ll save it correctly next time.”

By asking a follow-up question, Drew revealed what Sara actually needed: clear instructions for how to save her projects. Drew responded by explaining the process to Sara and sending a follow-up email with the instructions written out.

Drew was able to both solve a customer’s root complaint and suggest a change to his company’s software manual. This scenario helped him become confident with digging deeper on calls.

Analyze Your Data to Find the “Why”

If your FCR is not where you want it to be — look at your data for clues. A few metrics to start with are customer effort score (CES), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and quality assurance (QA).

As you look at the data, be curious about why customers may be contacting your team multiple times. Is it because customers don’t understand how to communicate their problems? Or perhaps they need the solution in writing? Do you have a policy that is not customer-friendly? Once you have some answers, brainstorm your next steps.

In order for this exercise to work, you need reliable internal data. Consider implementing a quality assurance scorecard system using a platform such as MaestroQA. A quality assurance system software will automate repetitive data collection tasks and give your team access to the data. Access to this system empowers your team to troubleshoot first contact resolution (FCR) issues quickly and independently.

Provide Coaching for Your Agents

Have you found FCR-related issues caused by individual behaviors? Because customer service agent coaching is highly personalized, it can target that behavior. For example, an agent might escalate most calls. During a coaching session, the agent might share that they feel insecure about navigating the internal knowledge base. The coach can provide resources to help the agent become proficient at doing so.

In the end, coaching is an excellent way to increase your agents’ confidence and improve FCR.

Update Your Learning Management System and Knowledge Base

Good customer service basics don’t change much over time. But the specifics of your industry may vary and change a lot. So, someone in your organization should be responsible for keeping your learning management system (LMS) up-to-date.

When your training materials aren’t regularly updated, you might notice red flags. Second and third phone calls from the same customer might include complaints like, “That’s not what the last person told me.” Different agents might follow different workflows to solve the same problem. Creative problem-solving is good, but your customer experience should be consistently excellent. An updated LMS helps make that happen.

In addition, your internal knowledge base should be easy to navigate. Agents should be able to find information and easily navigate to related documents quickly. Customers notice when an agent can answer questions quickly. With quick, confident responses, customers feel more comfortable asking follow-up questions — knowing the interaction will be succinct. Fast and accurate feedback will improve your FCR.

Eliminate Steps For Your Customers

When someone submits a help ticket, it is generally impossible to resolve it entirely with one message. For example, if someone needs to exchange a pair of shoes, they might initiate a return via email but leave out critical info.

To streamline any process — your customer agents should be trained to gather all necessary information at one time on the first phone call or contact. Sometimes, this call is best accomplished via an online form. Other times, the solution is best accomplished via email. (“Please send a screenshot of your original order, plus the size you’d like.”)

Whenever possible, automate frequent needs. For example, you might create a place on your website where customers can cancel their subscriptions. Your solution can include the option to pause a subscription or to receive a discount instead of canceling. Clearly written solutions on your website will save customers time and your company money.

Finally, keep the dreaded phone tree as short as possible. A brief recording might answer frequently asked questions (for example, a restaurant could include its hours on its answering machine). But anything longer risks frustrating your customer, causing complaints, and thus making your agents’ jobs harder.

Invest in Best Practices

To provide excellent customer service, you can leverage available tools and innovations. You may find a new report that helps your team, or a new technology might be helpful. For example, a video call solution that integrates into existing CS workflows can help resolve issues that typically require a site visit. Creative solutions can infuse new life into your help desk.

But sometimes, you just need to spend the time reviewing simple, reliable data. Then you can implement changes and best practices to quickly assess and resolve customer complaints.

The payoff? Happier, more loyal customers and agents. And that makes investing time and resources into these best practices well worth it.

Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio; Pexels; Thank you!

How to Deal With a Customer Complaint Quickly was originally published on Calendar by Deanna Ritchie

5 Ways to Customize Your Client Experience

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Client Experience

From start to finish, there’s a lot that needs to be done to take care of your customers. You want them to have a flawless check-in experience, an ideal appointment, and a clean exit. Satisfied customers will leave positive reviews and refer your business to their friends.

One way you can set yourself apart from competitors, while simultaneously enhancing the client experience, is by offering customization options. This way, each client can have a unique experience that fits their needs and preferences. Customization isn’t always easy in the brainstorming phase, so here are some ideas you can use to get started:

1. Provide Onsite Child Care 

Many clients have children, but they won’t always have access to childcare when they have time for appointments. Additionally, few businesses allocate resources toward onsite child care services. This monumental gesture could be huge for your local community, if implemented correctly.

Just think of how many parents will appreciate being able to go to the salon on a Saturday because they can take their child along. Parents with working partners also don’t have to postpone dentist appointments or doctor’s visits simply because they’re too busy with kids during business hours.

Onsite child care should have at least one designated employee to take care of any children present. Some sanitized toys and a TV are enough to keep them entertained for a half-hour appointment. Your clients will be extremely grateful and may return frequently due to this service.

2. Send Personalized Gifts

Who says you should only take care of your clients while they are inside your building? A lot of what can make a client experience unique occurs before and after their appointments. For example, you can go the extra mile by sending some personalized gifts to your regulars.

In your customer portals, you can keep track of birthdays or other special events worth recognizing. An email saying happy birthday with a gift certificate or coupon attached is a nice gesture that isn’t required. Going out of your way to send little messages and gifts like that can really set your organization apart.

To make this strategy work you really have to be sincere. Get to know your clients and remember key details about them. This way you can congratulate them when they grow their family, graduate from school, or accomplish other things outside of regular holidays.

3. Offer Loyalty Discounts

Appointment-based businesses are no strangers to loyalty and rewards programs. What you might not have considered is offering a variety of loyalty programs for customers to choose from. This way each client will receive bonuses and incentives that actually matter to them rather than a one-size-fits-all solution.

Let’s say you set a benchmark of 10 appointments for the first loyalty bonus to kick in. Customers can have the option to accept a discount on their next appointment or receive an Amazon gift card, among other options. You’re offering them a simple choice to make, but the freedom to choose is a powerful gift.

Loyalty points are perhaps the most flexible way to incentivize and reward your clients. Points can be redeemed for discounts, gift cards, or even stockpiled for larger rewards such as electronic devices or even hotel stays. Some customers might strive to unlock the highest reward possible, while others will be content to receive a voucher for a free meal.

4. Keep Preferences on File 

If you get your haircut at the same salon, they likely remember exactly how you like it. This shows they put forth effort to customize each client’s experience and keep it consistent. Your business might fall under a different sector, but the principle is still the same. Keeping customer preferences on file can add a lot to their experience, especially when repeated.

A few examples would be recording a client’s favorite massage therapist or the nail tech who knows their preferred style. You can also keep track of details such as appointment times, so you can suggest the best date and time for a follow-up appointment. This information is best tracked in a customer portal that can be created and maintained through a CRM or customer relationship management tool.

5. Provide Snacks and Refreshments 

You should do everything you can to keep waiting times low. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that are out of your control, wait times might run longer than you’d expect. Additionally, some industries can’t help but have wait times, such as a mechanic’s shop providing an oil change.

If you have a lot of early morning appointments, a fully stocked coffee bar should be a big hit. You can provide all sorts of flavors and fixings to keep guests comfortable in your waiting room. A soda fountain machine or individually packaged snacks are other treats you can leave out for your clients while they wait.

After going through this list, stop and think about what your clients would appreciate the most. Be creative with the ideas you choose to implement. As long as you have their best interests in mind, you will find success in customizing their individual experiences.

Image Credit: Fauxels; Pexels; Thank you!

How Can You Make the Recruiting Process Faster?

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recruiting process

Did you know that the average time to fill a position is 42 days? ‌However,‌ ‌the recruiting process varies from industry to industry. Still, during that span, top talent may accept an offer elsewhere. And that means you have to continue devoting resources to filling that opening. This puts more strain on your current team as they have an additional workload.

But, there are some additional benefits to speeding up the recruitment process. It improves the candidate experience, but this can also lead to higher acceptance rates. And it will put a smile on the faces of your recruiters and leaders.

But, how can you make the recruiting process faster? Well, try out these ten strategies.

1. Enhance‌ ‌your‌ ‌job‌ ‌postings.

Let’s not mince words. Having a lot of unqualified applicants applying to your job openings might be due to‌ ‌your‌ ‌job‌ ‌posting. ‌So what makes an effective advertisement?

Yes. ‌Your job posting must include all essential requirements. ‌However, it should also be aspirational as well.

In order to attract the best talent, you need to write about why the candidate should choose you over anyone else. ‌In other words, promote your company as their best option.

There’s nothing wrong with the description of your job following a general template. ‌However, it should also include‌ ‌the‌‌ ‌‌following‌‌ ‌‌criteria:

  • Give a brief description of your company. ‌Make sure you include your firm’s tagline or pitch.
  • Make it clear whether the position is remote or on-site. It’s simple to narrow candidates who are only seeking remote work opportunities.
  • The‌ ‌job posting should also be specific‌ ‌about‌ ‌the‌ ‌role. ‌For example, describe who the candidate will report to and their responsibilities. ‌Also, explain how they can succeed in their new role and how to track their performance.
  • List the skills, requirements, or pre-requisites that your candidates must possess. ‌Of course, some candidates may not apply unless they meet those requirements. ‌Yet, it can assist serious candidates in deciding whether this role suits them.
  • Explain what the perks of your job or company ‌are. ‌By doing so, candidates will feel valued before they even meet you.

2. Make it easy to apply.

A lengthy and exhausting application process is not appealing to candidates. ‌What’s more, they expect to apply for the job directly from their phones. ‌According to Indeed, it is estimated that 62% of job seekers use mobile devices for their job search globally. Mobile job searching is driven primarily by convenience for 55% of job seekers. ‌Additionally, 66% of applicants would use a mobile device to apply for a job if it were easier.

‌As a result, they expect you to parse their resumes. And also limit the remaining fields to relevant information related to the application process.

In fact, Careerbuilder reports that 20% of candidates abandon application forms that take more than 10 minutes to complete.

Take the time to review your application process. If it doesn’t meet these standards, you need to step up your recruiting game. To start, you can offer a mobile-friendly application process that helps candidates apply faster by choosing the right recruitment software. Some suggestions would be Zoho Recruit, Recruitee, or Freshteam.

3. Encourage passive candidates.

Passive candidates are also encouraged to reach out during recruitment. ‌Often, those not actively looking for work have extensive experience, ideal for a position you’re filling.

Is‌ ‌it‌ ‌hard‌ ‌to‌ ‌convince‌ ‌specific ‌passive‌ ‌candidates? It can be. ‌You might be able to secure an interview with nothing more than a quick email to a few candidates you’re interested in.

4. Automate tasks.

Looking to focus most of your recruiting efforts on the jobs that have the most significant ‌impact? ‌Well, removing time-consuming tasks from your schedule is key.

Thanks to technology, recruiting has become more effective and ‌time-efficient. ‌In addition, these tools allow employers to automate menial tasks. ‌For example,‌ ‌screening‌ ‌resumes,‌ ‌scheduling‌ ‌interviews, answering‌ ‌simple‌ ‌questions,‌ ‌or‌ ‌sending‌ ‌‌rejection‌‌ ‌‌emails.

In the same way that talent pipelines influence efficiency, task automation does the same. ‌This way, you can focus on improving your hiring process’ speed and quality.

5. Implement an employee referral program.

There’s no spoiler warning here. Many of the best employees are hired internally or through ‌employee‌ ‌referrals. ‌About half of referrals (45%) stay for four years or longer. And, only 25% of employees hired from job boards remain for more‌ ‌than two‌ ‌years.

Employee referral programs let your employees do a substantial amount of recruiting on your behalf. ‌By doing so, recruiting and hiring will take a lot less time, and advertising costs will be reduced. ‌It is also more likely that candidates with a personal relationship with a current employee will accept a job offer.

Best of all? Referral programs are not ‌complicated‌ ‌or‌ ‌expensive. ‌You could, for instance, try an old-fashioned approach like asking your employees who they know. ‌However, you should make sure that they know you will help them through the process.

6. Leverage AI-powered candidate screening.

Screening candidates is a crucial step in the hiring process. ‌Why? Recruiters can eliminate applicants who are not suitable for the job, focusing on the most qualified ones.

However, you probably have to perform this manual task daily. And, suffice to say, it can take a lot of time and effort. ‌Moreover, if you receive many applications, it is practically impossible to screen all of them accurately and ensure only the best are considered in the hiring ‌‌process.

The best solution? Automate the screening process with AI.

Using an applicant tracking system allows you to automate the process of selecting candidates based on the job requirements you set. ‌As a result, it can speed up your recruiting process while retaining the quality of screening. Also, this technology doesn’t get tired of screening candidates and reviewing their CVs. ‌Additionally, it doesn’t rely on human biases.

7. Expand the reach of your job listing.

Again, providing a good job listing will appeal to prospective employees and make the hiring process faster. ‌If the listing has not been placed correctly, serious repercussions can be. ‌Without enough job advertisements, your candidate pool will be less diverse, and the number of applicants will also decline. ‌You can save time and resources by diversifying where you advertise your job openings now and in the future.

The thing is, if you do it inefficiently, actively increasing the preparation phase can bog down the process even further. After all, if you aren’t using the right tools or channels, you’ll be wasting both time and money. ‌So instead, make your company more recognizable by increasing brand awareness, or use the next tip for optimal results.

And, despite your personal feelings, don’t overlook the power of social media. For example, 94% of recruiters leverage LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter in their recruiting efforts.

8. Hire from within.

Employees should always be encouraged to apply for new positions. The reason? Well, it’s less expensive and boosts employee engagement. But, it also makes the recruiting process faster.

Based on your current employee’s skills, knowledge, loyalty, and work ethic, you already know they are a good fit for your business. ‌Likewise, it takes time and effort to welcome a new team member. ‌But, on the other hand, an existing employee is already settled and comfortable in your organization.

9. Embrace flexible interviews.

Can you offer more flexible interviews? For example, do you have the availability to meet with them during the evening or weekend? Are you willing to travel to meet them? Or, the interview can be done remotely over Zoom.

10. Enhance the candidate experience.

Lastly,‌ ‌improving the candidate experience will make your hiring process more efficient. ‌Besides improving candidate experience, these methods also speed up ‌hiring.

Candidates would get a better experience if the application and overall recruiting process were shortened. ‌Recruiters would also have fewer touchpoints.

If you keep an engaging career page and employer brand, candidates will be able to decide if they will fit in with your company culture. ‌By pre-screening, they can reduce the number of applicants not fit for the role. ‌Informed and enthusiastic candidates will also feel more qualified and enthusiastic about the job.

Final tip. Keep in constant contact with candidates. ‌Through effective communication, you can improve their experience and prevent delays and roadblocks.

Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio; Pexels; Thank you!

How Can You Make the Recruiting Process Faster? was originally published on Calendar by .

How to Help Your Team Prepare for Summer Vacation Season

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Summer Vacation

Summer vacation is upon us, and it’s a popular time for employees to take time off. Maybe they plan on traveling with their family or taking a few weeks to spend quality time with their kids at home. Either way, it’s a good idea to help your employees prepare to ensure a seamless absence.

This article offers tips to prepare for summer vacation. From having employees request time off early to integrating collaborative technology, here’s everything you should know:

1. Get Time Off Requests Early 

Summer is a busy time for vacations. Chances are, your employees are planning a few trips they don’t want to miss. That’s why it’s important your staff notifies you of their vacation plans early. This will help you prepare for their absence in advance, so you can avoid being understaffed.

Most companies want their employees to submit time-off requests sooner rather than later. Not only does that increase the likelihood you’ll approve their time off, but it helps you assign work accordingly. To ensure this happens, consider sending out an email reminding your employees to submit their summer requests.

You should also include a note to ensure workers know their requests may not be approved. While you want your employees to enjoy the summer, the truth is, you can’t always approve everyone’s time-off request. Make sure you set realistic expectations.

2. Display Time Off Requests

Instead of having employees blindly submit time-off requests, consider having a board that displays everyone’s availability. This way, if an employee sees several people are approved off one week, they’ll know to avoid requesting that time. And instead, they might request their time off for the following week when more people are in the office.

Some companies use software to display everyone’s approved time off. This is a great option, but it  could be costly, depending on the service. If you’re a small business, using a physical calendar or an online alternative could work. Just make sure your employees have access to each other’s calendars and mark their time.

The more transparent you are about approved time, the more seamless it’ll be for employees. In addition to displaying approved time off, make sure you track it as well. It’s important employees can see how much time off they’ve acquired, and what they have left.

3. Make Sure They Plan Ahead

Just because your employee won’t be in the office, doesn’t mean their responsibilities disappear. It’s important they tie up any loose ends before vacationing and communicate with whoever will be covering for them.

For instance, let’s say you work in customer service. Your employees could reach out to their clients to let them know they’ll be out of office. You should also advise them to provide clients with an alternative contact, in case of an emergency. Another good idea is to have your employees set up out-of-office email responses to automatically send when someone reaches out.

You could also have your employees create an out-of-office checklist for their team. This can help prepare others for anything that’s due while they’re out. It’s also a good idea to have employees mark themselves as absent on any communication/project management tools the company uses. This will hopefully keep co-workers from reaching out to people while they’re out of the office.

4. Explore Hybrid/Remote Options

The pandemic forced thousands of employees to work from home. But even now, new data shows remote work is still surging. That’s because some people still don’t feel comfortable working from an office. Then, others simply prefer the convenience of remote work.

Allowing your employees to work from anywhere means they have more flexibility. They can visit their family out of state and even travel out of the country, while still working. If you don’t have a remote option, consider putting one in place this summer.

Allowing remote work can also save your business money. For instance, you could significantly reduce your office’s electric bill with employees at home. If 100% remote work isn’t an option for your employees, consider exploring hybrid options. Three days in the office and two remote days each week will offer employees some more freedom this summer.

5. Integrate Technology 

If your company doesn’t leverage technology, you may be doing your employees a real disservice. Regardless of your industry, it’s important workers have a place where they can communicate with one another. This is even more important during the summer when employees are going in and out of the office.

Consider adopting technology that helps your employees stay connected, regardless of where they are. For example, you could use a messaging platform like Slack. You could also consider using project management software like Asana or Monday. Both programs can help employees stay up to date and be held accountable for projects.

Technology can be a great tool, but you don’t want to go overboard. Make sure whatever you integrate makes sense for your company, and streamlines your business.

6. Help Them Enjoy Their Time Away

According to research, almost half of American workers don’t take vacation time. While there are several reasons for this, one is that people are afraid to take time off. Some are worried that requesting time off makes them appear replaceable and impacts their job security. Some people, on the other hand, don’t have anyone that can cover for them.

While it’s admirable that employees choose to work, not taking time off can lead to burnout. Not only can this impact your employees’ personal lives, but can lower their performance at work. Both are things you don’t want.

To keep this from happening, make sure you encourage your employees to take time off. Then, do your best to ensure they enjoy their time. Encourage employees to turn off their notifications, and not worry about work while they’re gone. Ensure then that your company will still thrive without them being there for a few days.

The point of vacation is to take time off to reset and enjoy. However, you can’t enjoy a vacation when you’re worried about work. The tips above can help your employees prepare for their summer vacation so their work is covered, and they can relax.

Image Credit: Andrea Piacquadio; Pexels; Thank you!

Add These 101 Phrases to Your Calendar for Productivity

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Meetings Less Productive

Why do we love quotes? Well, many of us can be inspired by a quote on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. For example, when need to be re-energized when motivation has lost its luster. In addition, using quotes as a ‌guide‌ ‌can‌ ‌help‌ ‌us‌ ‌achieve‌ ‌specific‌ ‌goals and increase productivity.

Whatever reason you tap into the power quotes, the key is to keep them front and center. And, what better place to do that than by adding the following 101 phrases to your calendar for productivity. This way when you review your daily schedule or receive reminders, you’ll also get that much-needed productivity boost when needed.

1. “Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” — Paul J. Meyer

2. “A wind that blows aimlessly is no good to anyone.” — Rick Riord​an

3. “Focus on being productive instead of busy.” — Tim Ferriss

4. “Lost time is never found again.” — Benjamin Franklin

5. “It’s not knowing what to do, it’s doing what you know.” –-Tony Robbins

6. “Use your mind to think about things, rather than think of them. You want to be adding value as you think about projects and people, not simply reminding yourself they exist.” — David Allen

7. “Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you’ve got to have talent and know-how to use it.” — Frank Sinatra

8. “It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”– Henry David Thoreau

9. “Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves.” — Dale Carnegie

10.. “Time is the school in which we learn, time is the fire in which we burn.” — Delmore Schwartz

11. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.” — Stephen Covey

12. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” — Picasso

13. “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done.” — Bruce Lee

14. “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

15. “Productivity is being able to do things that you were never able to do before.” — Franz Kafka

16. “If there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one.” — Jack Ma

17. “Ordinary people think merely of spending time, great people think of using it.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

18. Stressing output is the key to improving productivity while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite. — Paul Gauguin

19. “The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.” — Oprah Winfrey

20. “Life is too complicated not to be orderly.” — Martha Stewart

21. “It’s not always that we need to do more but rather that we need to focus on less.” — Nathan W. Morris

22. “You may delay, but time will not.” — Benjamin Franklin23 “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” — Coco Chanel

23. “Don’t confuse the urgent with the important.” — Preston Ni.

24. “The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends, there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” — Thomas A. Edison

25. “The least productive people are usually the ones who are most in favor of holding meetings.” — Thomas Sowell

26. “Make each day your masterpiece.”– John Wooden

27. “My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do.” — Francine Jay

28. “The tragedy in life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach.” — Benjamin E. Mays

29. “The best way out is always through.” –– Robert Frost

30. “Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.” — Leo Babauta

31. “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all.” — Peter Drucker

32. “Position yourself to succeed by doing the other things in your life that rejuvenate you. Exhaustion affects your quality and productivity.” — Jeff VanderMeer

33. “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” — Albert Einstein

34. “Both good and bad days should end with productivity. Your mood affairs should never influence your work.” — Greg Evans

35. “You don’t need a new plan for next year. You need a commitment.” — Seth Godin

36. “Saying ‘I don’t have time’ really means ‘it’s not a priority.’ If someone offered you a ton of cash to do whatever you claim you don’t have time for…you’d probably find the time!” — Laura Vanderkam

37. “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” — Stephen King

38. “Sometimes the biggest gain in productive energy will come from cleaning the cobwebs, dealing with old business, and clearing the desks—cutting loose debris that’s impeding forward motion.” — David Allen

39. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” — Steve Jobs

40. “When one has much to put into them, a day has a hundred pockets.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

41. “Great acts are made up of small deeds.” — Lao Tzu

42. “‘Tomorrow’ is the thing that’s always coming but never arrives. ‘Today’ is the thing that’s already here and never leaves. And because that’s the case, I would much prefer to invest in today than sit around waiting for an arrival that’s not arriving.” — Craig D. Lounsbrough

43. “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” — Walt Disney

44. “Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.” — Alan Watts

45. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” — Muhammad Ali

46. “Time is not refundable; use it with intention.” — Unknown

47. “Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation” — Brian Tracy

48. You can’t get much done in life if you only work on days when you feel good. — Jerry West

49. “The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity.” — Tom Peters

50. “There is no waste in the world that equals the waste from needless, ill-directed, and ineffective motions.” — Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Sr.

51. “We have a strategic plan. It’s called doing things.” — Herb Kelleher

52. “You don’t get paid for the hour, you get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” — Jim Rohn

53. “You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win.” — Zig Ziglar

54. “If you have time to whine then you have time to find solutions.” — Dee Dee Artner

55. “All things will be produced in superior quantity and quality, and with greater ease, when each man works at a single occupation, in accordance with his natural gifts, and at the right moment, without meddling with anything else.” — Plato

56. “Light tomorrow with today.”– Elizabeth Barrett Browning

57. “Don’t confuse activity with productivity. Many people are simply busy being busy.” — Robin Sharma

58. “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.” –– Dwight D. Eisenhower

59. “Busy is a decision” — Debbie Millman

60. “People often say that motivation doesn’t last long. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” — Zig Ziglar

61. “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” — Amelia Earhart

62. “There is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it over.” — John W. Bergman

63. “There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.” — John F. Kennedy

64. “Just do what works for you because there will always be someone who thinks differently” — Michelle Obama

65. “Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work in hand. The Sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus” — Alexander Graham Bell

66. “Every day that I procrastinate, every day that I sit stagnant in fear, every day that I fail to better myself, someone else out there with the same goals and dreams as me is doing the exact opposite.”– Noel DeJesus

67. “Where your attention goes, your time goes” — Idowu Koyenikan

68. “I get to do what I like to do every single day of the year.” — Warren Buffett

69. “Pick a problem that hurts enough for enough people and go solve it – execution is much more important than the perfect idea.” — Cristina Junqueira

70. “If you commit to giving more time than you have to spend, you will constantly be running from time debt collectors.” — Elizabeth Grace Saunders

71. “Someday is not a day of the week.” — Janet Dailey

72. “Working on the right thing is probably more important than working hard.” — Caterina Fake

73. “Reflect on what you do in a day. You may have never realized how some simple, harmless activities rob you of precious time.” — Vivek Naik

74. “Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law” — Douglas R. Hofstadter

75. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” — Karen Lamb

76. “The key to productivity is to rotate your avoidance techniques.” — Shannon Wheeler

77. “Start by doing what is necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Saint Francis of Assisi

78. “Sometimes, things may not go your way, but the effort should be there every single night.” — Michael Jordan

79. “Long-range planning works best in the short term.”– Doug Evelyn

80. “Over the long run, the unglamorous habit of frequency fosters both productivity and creativity.” — Gretchen Rubin

81. “Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes in a day.” — Denis Waitley

82. “The happier you are, the more productive you will become.” — Chris Bailey

83. “You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” — George Lorimer

84. “Don’t worry about breaks every 20 minutes ruining your focus on a task. Contrary to what I might have guessed, taking regular breaks from mental tasks actually improves your creativity and productivity. Skipping breaks, on the other hand, leads to stress and fatigue.” — Tom Rath

85. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King

86. “Want to be more productive? Uncover the subtle nuances that steal your productivity and fix those.” — Allison Graham

87. “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. It comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.” — John Wayne

88. “Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.” — Charles Richards

89. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson

90. “Your daily choices and actions should be rational and productive.” — Sunday Adelaja

91. “Successful people are simply those with successful habits.” — Brian Tracy

92. “Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action has arrived, stop thinking and go in.” — Napoleon Bonaparte

93. “What gets measured gets managed.” — Peter Drucker

94. “What looks like multitasking is really switching back and forth between multiple tasks, which reduces productivity and increases mistakes by up to 50 percent.” — Susan Cain

95. “You don’t need more time in your day. You need to decide.” — Seth Godin

96. “Each minute is a little thing, and yet, with respect to our personal productivity, to manage the minute is the secret of success.” — Joseph B. Wirthlin

97. “Fall in love with the process, and the results will come.” — Eric Thomas

98. “Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.” — Lord Chesterfield

99. “My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day I find something creative to do with my life.” — Miles Davis

100. “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” — H. Jackson Brown

101. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” — J.R.R. Tolkien

Image Credit: Bich Tran; Pexels; Thank you!

Add These 101 Phrases to Your Calendar for Productivity was originally published on Calendar by Deanna Ritchie

Your Customers Want Self-Service — Here’s How to Give It to Them

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Self Service

Customers today are craving more self-service options from businesses. What exactly does this mean? Self-service means that customers are able to access products, services, and solutions on their own without heavy interaction. This saves time, money, and human resources while meeting their needs more efficiently.

Now that you know that customers want self-service options, how do you make that happen? For small businesses this can be a daunting task, especially if you don’t know where to begin. Look no further; these five starting points will put you in a great place to make self-service a reality for your customer base:

Enable Online Booking

The first thing you need to do is enable self-service options for regular business interactions. For appointment-based businesses, the initial step will be to enable online booking. You’ll need to set up a website or a mobile app that allows customers to book appointments on their own devices.

Customers can browse through time slots and make their own bookings without needing to call an in-house employee. Appointments can be booked, canceled, and rescheduled more quickly. This option also creates more flexibility for customers because they could make their appointment outside of regular business hours. The business will save time, and customers have more autonomy with their booking experience.

If you want to make sure customers are able to navigate through your online booking program, you can set up a chatbot. This automated tool will be able to answer basic questions and guide your customers through the booking process while still feeling like they’re doing it all themselves.

Upgrade Your UI and UX

If you’re unaware, UI and UX stand for user interface and user experience respectively. Both of these categories are absolutely vital when implementing self-service solutions for your customers.

Your user interface involves how customers interact with your online platforms. Chatbots, as mentioned previously, are an example of UI. They make it easier for your customers to navigate and use your website.

User experience is a little more self-explanatory. This simply describes how satisfied a customer feels after working with your company. A website with quick loading speeds, a simple navigation system, and an attractive design includes examples of aspects that would ultimately improve your company’s user experience.

Make Resources Available

When customers attempt self-service, they may encounter some obstacles. These types of customers may want to try and overcome obstacles on their own. After all, independence and control are big reasons why individuals prefer self-service in the first place.

To empower these customers, make your best resources available for their use. Start with a frequently asked questions page that provides quick solutions to common problems. You can follow this up with more detailed tutorials and guides through short videos. These videos can cover a wide range of topics and even double as a marketing campaign.

A maintained blog can be used for the same purpose. Not only will the content help drive more people to your business, blog posts can provide valuable insight and information to help your customers through their journey with your business. Last but not least, make contact information readily available in the case that a customer truly needs a helping hand.

Automate What You Can

Online booking is a major integration that you can add to your business, but why stop there? So many other aspects of your business can be automated as well. Picking the right automated solutions will give more power and flexibility to customers who engage with your business.

Take payment, for example. Offering secure, online payment methods will make appointment times shorter by cutting out the middleman or a front desk agent. Customers can even save their preferred payment methods to automatically cover future appointments.

Your entire check-in process can be automated as well. A mobile app can update wait times and allow customers to note their arrivals in real-time. These small automations offer a lot of convenience to customers, especially by notifying them of delays before they pack up to leave the house.

Give Your Customers Control

At the end of the day, self-service comes down to control. Customers feel like they’re able to dictate how their experience pans out, and that makes them happy. Some companies don’t like giving up control to consumers, but sometimes a small sacrifice leads to great rewards.

A small and simple way you can give customers some control is by allowing them to adjust certain settings and personalize their experiences. For example, you can allow customers to choose how they receive appointment reminders or make it possible to opt out of them entirely. This doesn’t change much on your end, but it’s a small gesture that makes the customer feel considered and valued.

Customer profiles also allow customization and are helpful for both parties. You can give your customers some control by allowing them to choose which information they share with your company. They can also use a notes section to save certain preferences, such as a regular order modification or their preferred massage therapist.

Self-service is the future of business. Other companies are already implementing solutions, so now is the time to make sure you’re keeping up with the competition and keeping your customers happy.

Image Credit: Norma Mortenson; Pexels; Thank you!

5 Tech Tools That Will Make Your Team More Productive

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Tech Tools

As a business owner, you have a lot to worry about. Are you getting enough customers? Are they satisfied with your service and are you making enough money to stay afloat? That’s not to mention making sure building space is up to code, employees are happy with their working conditions, and your personal life isn’t totally sucked away by entrepreneurship. If even one of these things is a concern for you, it’s time to equip a new tool that can help.

Increasing the productivity of your business and the team that runs it will make your company more successful without needing constant supervision. Tech tools abound in today’s business landscape and can quickly turn one of your organization’s weaknesses into a strength.

The question is: What tech tools should my business be using? There are so many to choose from, and it’s tough to know where to start. To give you some ideas, here are five of today’s best tech tools that you can try out for yourself:

1. Toggl

If you want to improve team productivity, you need to start with time management. The secret to improving productivity isn’t by working longer hours, it’s by getting more out of the hours you do put on the clock. A lot of issues concerning time management can be alleviated through Toggl.

Toggl was originally just a time tracking and reporting software, yet there are now multiple ways to use this tool. Time tracking, offered through Toggl Track, allows you to visualize your time and can show you where your inefficiencies lie through detailed reports.

The newer team planning aspect, Toggle Plan, helps organize and manage projects. The team dashboard, email tracking reminders, and time audits help ensure team members are on the same page. Additionally, the Toggl Hire feature has resources for improving your hiring process through skills tests. For a growing business, this can help screen new applicants more efficiently.

2. Appointment

A large portion of your time as a business leader will be spent in various meetings. Additionally, many businesses rely on appointment bookings to meet with customers to sell products and services. Organizing these meetings and events on your own can be stressful, but with Appointment as your tech tool, it’s a breeze.

One of Appointment’s most valuable features is its ability to handle multiple locations, departments, and categories at once. If you’re operating a large business or a region of franchises, Appointment will help you keep every time commitment in its proper place.

For appointment-based businesses, this program will automate most of the booking process. Employees will spend less time on the phones or at the check-in desk and can devote their time to other meaningful projects.

3. Slack

Team communication is essential. How your team communicates on a daily basis will directly influence their productivity and overall success. Modern teams have to collaborate over long distances and sometimes even time zone changes. A tech tool such as Slack makes collaboration and communication just as easy as if you were sharing an office space.

Slack is an application that can be used on your desktop or your mobile device to quickly send messages and files to anyone on your team. Separate channels can be created to keep departments and subject matter separated for optimal communication. You can even set permissions for each channel so that only the necessary individuals have access to certain chat rooms.

The cherry on top is all the integrations that you can add to Slack in addition to its effective communication platform. You can hook up other applications such as Google Drive, Zoom, and Salesforce for an even more streamlined teamwork process.

4. Hubspot

The question isn’t what can Hubspot do for you, it’s what can’t Hubspot do for you? Hubspot has a variety of tech tool solutions called ‘hubs’ that can be used individually or combined together to increase team productivity. Available hubs cover the following business processes:

  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Customer Service
  • Content Management
  • System Operations

If you want to give each hub a try you can use a two-week demo to see how each one affects your team’s metrics. Some hubs even have limited tools available for free if you would like to run a small sample over a longer period of time.

5. Buffer

Any great business in 2022 is managing a social media presence alongside their regular operations. Even with a dedicated social media team, this can be quite the undertaking. Social media content needs to be curated, edited, and posted alongside managing comments and direct messages.

With a tool such as Buffer, much of your social media projects can be automated. For starters, you can schedule your social media posts across multiple platforms to go live at a designated time. You won’t have to log on at the exact moment you want your content to be posted.

Additionally, you get access to advanced metrics and reporting to help you improve your social media strategy. With Buffer’s reports, you can see exactly what’s working and how you should change your approach.

To truly know if these tech tools are improving productivity you need to pay close attention. How have your metrics changed since using a new tool? Do team members seem more energized with new tools? If you’re seeing positive results, then consider making those tools a permanent resource for your team.

5 Ways to Measure Remote Employee Productivity

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Apps to Boost Productivity

There are countless statistics claiming that remote employee productivity is greater than its in-office alternative. For example, one study published not long into the pandemic claimed as much as a 47% increase in productivity thanks to remote work.

The question is, how do you know that your team has increased their productivity by half? How can you measure the effectiveness of a remote team — at least, how can you do so without becoming an invasive, micromanaging boss?

If you’re interested in monitoring your team’s productivity without compromising their independence and empowerment, here are some tips to help you out.

1. Set Clear Expectations

Expectations are key. If you don’t know what you’re expecting, you can’t judge if something is productive. In a workspace as asynchronous as remote work, personal interactions are few and far between. In that setting, expectations take the place of overseeing an in-office workforce.

Even when you’re operating in person, it’s essential that you communicate how you expect a project or activity to go. If you’re in the same physical space, though, you have the opportunity to update, add to, and even tweak expectations as you go along.

When your workers are laboring in isolation, they often complete a project — or at least put significant effort into it — before their productivity is ever considered. As global HR solution Remote points out, clear, detailed expectations set from the beginning of a project are necessary when managing remote teams. It ensures that everyone starts on the same page and is oriented toward the same end goal.

2. Utilize OKRs

There are many ways to break down expectations. Standard options include setting clear objectives and utilizing KPIs (key performance indicators) to make productivity measurable.

However, one of the best productivity measurement tools out there is OKRs. OKRs (which stand for “objectives and key results”) is a goal-setting methodology that approaches productivity from a holistic perspective. Rather than just saying, “There’s the finish line. Find a way to get there!” OKRs consider both the final objective that you’re working toward and the critical results required to accomplish it. In essence, this brings both goals and milestones together into one shiny package.

OKRs are powerful productivity motivators. They tie goals to day-to-day work and make it much easier to evaluate if work is getting done. For example, if you just set a goal, you may have to wait days or even weeks to see if an employee has accomplished that task on time. With OKRs, you can measure results as you go along.

3. Track Outcomes

It’s tempting to value time over output. That is always a bad idea when remote work is involved. Even if you ask your employees to report time spent working “on the honor system,” you still don’t know what that time looks like. Instead, focus on the deliverables that come from your employees’ overtime.

Every project has deliverables. Those might be a clear, defined item, such as a piece of content or a prototype of a new piece of hardware. However, it could also come from the work process itself. For instance, if you train someone for a position, the deliverable manifests through the learning experience.

Regardless of the project at hand, it’s important to identify the deliverables involved. This gives you an objective way to measure the success or failure of something. For example, you can consider the outcome of an employee’s work, compare it to the expectation (which should be clearly defined), and then decide if they are productive.

4. Use Employee Feedback

Internal feedback is an invaluable resource. Whether it’s recurring questionnaires, real-time opinions, or exit interviews, receiving input from your team can be a powerful refining tool.

It can also indirectly help with tracking productivity, as well. Have your employees fill out surveys asking for honest, anonymous feedback about their coworkers from time to time. This isn’t an opportunity for employees to snitch on one another. On the contrary, make sure to provide questions that don’t evoke charged responses.

For instance, don’t include a question like “Is employee X productive?” Instead, try phrasing the inquiry, “What are one strength and one weakness of employee X?”

This won’t give you a direct way to measure productivity. Nevertheless, it can yield valuable insight into each team member’s strengths and weaknesses, including how productive they are as seen by their coworkers.

5. Ask for Asynchronous Updates

Finally, You can also ask employees to track their own productivity when they’re on their own. Again, never underestimate the power of talking to your employees directly. As you define objectives and OKRs, ask your team to measure how they’re doing every few days or at the end of the week.

Of course, they aren’t machines that will objectively assess their own productivity, but posing the question can lead to insightful conversations. Even if this leads to biased data, it can have a much more powerful indirect impact on productivity.

Asking your staff to evaluate their own output regularly forces them to remain aware of themselves. This can help them stay motivated and focused on KPIs, OKRs, milestones, and whatever other measurable objectives you might use.

It can be an empowering activity when you engage in regular conversations with each employee to assess their effectiveness together. You’re turning the “gotcha” element of the productivity question into a positive, joint endeavor. You’re inviting them into the process of helping them be more productive. But, of course, having open and honest discussions about productivity is easier if you have measurable OKRs and clear expectations in place.

Remote work is here to stay. This makes it imperative to find ways to measure remote employee productivity without overstepping as a manager. Remember, micromanaging often tends to do more harm than good.

Instead, use the tips above to quietly assess your team’s productivity over time. That way, you can identify areas that need to be addressed without squelching existing productivity through an overly hands-on approach.

Image Credit: Ivan Samkov; Pexels; Thank you!

5 Ways to Measure Remote Employee Productivity was originally published on Calendar by Abby Miller

Transforming Your Business Into a System With 5 Methods

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Job Search

Do you ever feel like you’re just going through the motions, but the motions seem more difficult than they should be? If this is the case, you may need to consider transforming your business in order to tune it up. Inefficient business operations not only struggle to turn a profit, but they can be frustrating to manage as well.

Luckily for business owners and entrepreneurs everywhere, there are plenty of proven strategies for upgrading your business with effective systems and processes. To help you revamp your business, here are ways to transform your organization into a well-honed system:

1. Identify What’s Outdated

The first step you need to undertake is ferreting out the aspects of your business that are outdated. A perfect example of this is a software program that you’re paying for but barely use. This program isn’t providing any value to your business, so it’s better to cancel the subscription and put that money to use elsewhere.

This examination should also include software programs and processes that are no longer successful or have become inefficient over time. In contrast to the example above, maybe you have an antiquated software system you’re hosting in-house that could be replaced with a more modern, feature-rich, cloud-based solution. In that case, the right subscription might be just what the doctor ordered. While you might be comfortable with your current system, you have to learn to let go of the old and embrace the new to keep your business in a winning position.

2. Tackle Your Biggest Project

No business is perfect, even the brands that grace the top of the Fortune 500 list. Your business likely has its fair share of problems. Instead of stressing over every little detail that needs improving, start by focusing on your biggest issues and getting them sorted out first. Once the glaring concerns are out of the way, the smaller details will seem much less overwhelming.

Let’s say your most pressing issue is your appointment check-in process. Customers routinely end up queuing for long periods because your receptionist can’t handle the influx of people in a sufficiently timely manner.

What needs to be done to improve this vital part of transforming your business? You could implement online appointment software that better spaces out client arrivals, or you might create a customer portal that allows self check-in for return appointments. When this major problem is solved, a lot of the smaller issues will be easier to deal with.

3. Organize Your Files

Regardless of the industry, your business needs to keep track of a lot of information. This could be tax documents and HR paperwork or client information that helps you optimize customer experiences. Whether you maintain this information physically or electronically, this is one aspect of your business that must be kept organized.

Start by going through your files to remove any duplicates or paperwork that is outdated or unnecessary to keep. With the remainder, you need to establish some sort of organized filing system. Files can be organized by customer name or number or chronologically.

While it’s certainly easiest to keep your files organized digitally, there are scenarios where it might be helpful to have a physical filing system handy. This will act as a failsafe if the internet ever goes out and you need to access certain information before it’s back online.

4. Clear Out Your Inbox

When was the last time you cleaned out your email inbox? As far as daily operations go, this is often placed in the bottom bracket of the priority list. After months of neglect, however, a cluttered inbox can start to cause problems or even some minor stress as you log into your messy email every morning.

Any email service will allow you to create custom folders for organizing your emails. This is a good place to start when transforming your business. It will declutter your main inbox and make it easier to find past emails that you need for reference purposes. Some email services even allow you to create tags and color-coding for additional organization if you so desire.

5. Make Every Replacement More Efficient

Every time you make a change to your business, make sure that it’s one for the better. The difference should be significant enough to be justifiable. You can do a lot better than swapping out Windows 10 for Windows 11.

We’ve talked about the digital side of your business and how it can be upgraded for more efficiency. While that is still incredibly important, don’t overlook the physical aspects of your business and how they can be improved as well. For instance, there are probably a few ways you can improve your waiting room to make the check-in process easier and more comfortable for customers.

Not every change you make will have an instant impact. In fact, some of the adjustments you make might end up being more of a side-step than a step forward. What’s important is that you try new things and keep track of what does or doesn’t work. Over time, you will be able to find winning solutions that take your business to new heights.

Image Credit: Fauxels; Pexels; Thanks!

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