4 Useful Time Hacks for Your Employees
This article was updated on June 18, 2018.
Small and midsize business owners are often looking for ways to become more operationally efficient. By implementing the following time hacks for your employees, you can encourage your entire company to maximize productivity.
Use Email Communication Efficiently
Businesses often get inundated with emails. Although it's important to maintain this electronic communication — especially when it comes to interactions with your customers — you should work with your team to make sure that no one wastes time and resources on unnecessary emails. You should encourage your entire staff to only use email as required; when they do need to communicate in this way, they should compose succinct messages that include specific subject lines to immediately alert recipients to the task or issue at hand. This strategy should also help reduce the likelihood that your employees will duplicate efforts or that your suppliers and customers will have to reach out for further clarifications.
Complete the Highest Priority Tasks First
Sometimes you need to go back to basics to boost efficiency and productivity. Working on tasks in order of priority is a standard concept, but reminding your employees to do so can prove to be very beneficial to your business. In an effort to help everyone establish priorities, you should determine the top goals for your business as a whole. Once these goals are established, make sure you clearly communicate them to your employees so they can prioritize the tasks that will have the greatest impact on your core objectives. By having each employee knock the most important tasks off their to-do list each day, you will be one step closer to reaching your business goals.
Take Advantage of Productivity Apps
There are numerous productivity apps on the market that can improve organization, assist with project management and help your employees manage their time. Devise a list of approved productivity apps that your employees can use to help manage their tasks throughout the day.
Set a No-Meeting Day
Not every problem requires a meeting, and not every meeting solves a problem. In fact, having too many meetings throughout the course of a day can make it difficult for you to get things done. Unproductive meetings can also waste time and resources, costing your business money down the line. If you'd like to figure out how much a single meeting could cost your business, you can check out the Meeting Cost Calculator provided by the Harvard Business Review.
As a small or midsize business with limited resources, it may be beneficial for your entire team to have a day where they can keep their heads down and focus on their tasks without worrying about meeting interruptions. By setting a no-meeting day on a fairly regular basis, you can increase productivity throughout your company.
When you implement these time hacks for your employees, you take a vital step toward ensuring that your small to midsize business is a success.
