The average office worker is productive for only about 3 hours a day. There are many reasons for this, including having to recover from interruptions, but perhaps the biggest time-consuming culprit is having a workflow that is not efficient.
If your business is not working as smoothly as you need it to, finding ways to streamline workflow is crucial. Read on to learn how to streamline processes to get the most out of your employees and of the workday.
1. Streamline Workflow: Examine Current Workflow
Before you can begin to make changes, you need to know what does not work in your current workflow. List each process and analyze it. You have to know how each process in every division or department of your business operates.
Speak with employees to get their feedback. They will know individual processes better than you and can point out details you may miss.
2. Establish Work Priority
Once you know each process, consider its importance to the company. Create a ranking method that works for you, such as ranking each one from 1 to 10. You can maintain your workflow by knowing what the end goals are and what is of a higher priority.
3. Automate Repetitive Tasks
Process streamlining is impossible if you have employees who are spending a large chunk of their time performing repetitive tasks like manual data entry, preparing invoices, and other non-billable tasks. Turn to technology for these repetitive tasks.
Another time-waster and one that is easily resolved is having your employees switch from different platforms to check their email, prepare documents, and more. Turning to solutions like Google Workspace, where they will have access to Google Drive, Gmail, Docs, Google Calendar, and more. They can get their work done without needing to open different websites.
Get more info on google workspace to see how it can help.
4. Test the New Workflow
Once you have adjusted the workflow by prioritizing tasks and applying automation, test the entire workflow and analyze it as you did at the start. You need to know how it functions in a live work environment. You can choose to apply it to a new project, tweaking it as you go along.
Be ready to adjust if the results are not what you want. Do remember that implementing new processes has an adjustment period where you may not see the exact levels of productivity you want.
After the first trial run, ask for feedback from employees to see if there are issues you have missed.
Transform Your Business
When you streamline workflow, you are giving your business the chance to grow and improve. You will also see a rise in employee satisfaction because they will be more productive and waste less time on repetitive tasks. By providing a morale and productivity boost, workflow streamlining can take your business to the next level.
Learn more tips on how to transform your company into a more efficient one by reading our Business page!
