How to improve business efficiency?

Nowadays, when companies are under competitive pressure from more agile and more flexible companies when it comes to globalization, technological, legislative and regulatory changes, there is a need to improve business efficiency. Competition is increasing everywhere. New challenges emerge which demand improving business efficiency.

To improve business efficiency, besides daily work on strategies aimed to increase the company’s competitive advantage as well as profitability, it is also necessary to work on eliminating activities which do not contribute to business efficiency and profitability. Those are the activities within the organization but which seriously distract and affect business efficiency.

In everyday work, many employees are preoccupied with activities which do not help them or do not contribute to improving business efficiency. The result is stress as well as the inability to achieve business goals. Eliminating daily activities which cost but do not contribute to business efficiency we call waste or damage. Such activities do not benefit you nor your clients or customers. Such activities do not help you reach your goals so you should eliminate them. The more you notice and eliminate these activities, the more you improve business efficiency.

To improve business efficiency and performance you need to have a disciplined and organized staff, efficient time management, to avoid mistakes and use company potential in an efficient and effective manner.

Disciplined and Organized Staff

Talent, intelligence, education, experience…all these factors impact performance and business efficiency. But without a disciplined and organized staff, the effect is impaired. Without self-discipline, it is not easy to organize yourself in the everyday work routine. Abandoned projects, unanswered emails, a messy desk, unanswered calls, being late constantly, etc, it all indicates that a lack of discipline is one of the most common obstacles and dangers to efficiency and performance.

Trained, disciplined, and organized staff contributes to business efficiency and performance in the following ways:

Employees work on a clearly defined common goal. They take responsibility for their words and their actions;
Employees behave in a stable and self-controlled manner focused on realizing a specific goal;
Employees work on getting the job done, they stick to the defined plan and deadline;
If a mistake is made, it is reported, admitted, and fixed in a short period of;
For every task, employees have a rational explanation-because it is necessary or beneficial for the company;
Business communication, giving and receiving information with the aim of accomplishing business goals, works perfectly even though information flows through all spheres of knowledge and business between employees who are different in a company with the hierarchical organization.

Efficient Time Management

Is there a way to save time? Can your performance be more efficient? If you avoid wasting your time you can improve business efficiency and increase profitability.

Given the importance of efficient time management, you need to carry out a range of activities related to self-organization at work in order to achieve positive results.

You can evaluate the control of your own time and work using the following:

Unnecessary transport of thing requires a lot of time and energy. This includes activities such as transferring data, mailing letters instead of electronic mail, using slow data lines, etc.;
Inadequate arrangement of things in the workplace, for example, keeping unnecessary items on your desk instead of the frequently used item. Each time you needlessly search for something, paperwork, for example, or forms, precious time is wasted;
Keeping and storing useless data or more information that you actually need or which are irrelevant to the company. That includes an influx of emails you receive daily and the time you spend reading them. Furthermore, extensive use of social media or the Internet that do not contribute to improving business efficiency.
A poorly organized workflow or bad self-organization requires needless movements and waste of time. Is every trip, a certain appearance, phone call you make or email you send really necessary? Furthermore, needless searches, explanations, etc, it can all represent a waste of time.
Eliminate the wait time. Waiting is a huge problem. One employee is waiting for others. The more complex the processes, the more frequent the waiting which leads to a negative impact on performance efficiency. An organization in which business processes go through various departments must go through various interfaces, instead of shortening the activities.
If certain manufacturing or service processes are not adequate, they cause unnecessary wait time. What’s more, you often wait for your colleagues, information, access authorization or adequate equipment. Obstacles for good business efficiency include long, useless meetings and waiting for irrelevant decisions as well.
Overproduction, unnecessary production steps, and repeated processes handled several times doubling the work are a waste of time and they decrease labor output.

Avoiding Mistakes

Mistakes are part of daily routine. However, frequent mistakes affect business efficiency. Inadequate business processes, poor technology, and constant mistakes of the working staff lead to discordance, irregularities, omissions, and aberrance. Fixing mistakes takes time and money. Especially if mistakes are not discovered early and when the cause is difficult to determine.

Mistakes are caused by:

Inadequate document transfer. For example, when several employees work on a single case, it is recommended that each party examines the documents in order to reduce the chance of making a mistake.
Lack of adequate communication between employees and between employees and clients,
Poor and outdated technology,
Large administrative burden which leads to doubling, for example, paperwork filled closets, unfinished work, ample office supply, doubled data kept in different places, forgetting to complete what has been started, an overflowing inbox, etc.

Efficient and Effective Use of Company’s Potential

Failure to use the company’s potential also affects business efficiency. Why is the employees’ knowledge not applied within the organization? Why is their creativity not used for resolving matters within the organization? Including your employees in business process design leads to improvements, saving time, increased motivation and satisfaction of all those involved. Furthermore, they can help explore ideas on how to improve performance and where to look for reasons for a business loss.

However, it should be noted that potential is only one aspect of the fight. To improve business efficiency, it takes avoiding and resolving problems within the organization. It is also desirable to increase employee motivation and motivation for achieving business goals.

Human potential should be applied in the following matters:

To notice eventual mistakes in a short period of time. To perceive and define activities which affect profitability. To work on improving daily activities for the sake of efficient use of time;
Greater problems require a comprehensive method and analysis. In that case, it is necessary for employees to be familiar with the current situation, to know what is going on and why you didn’t act in a timely manner, to define the case, examine the cause, etc.
To define and determine the necessary measures needed for accomplishing and inmplementing business goals;
To examine the effect of measures taken. Whether the defined goal has been achieved and if not, to determine why and fix the doing;
To define a work plan aimed at improving business efficiency in the future.

Improve your business efficiency and you will get more space for idea development which will make you more competitive. Eliminate useless activities that are a waste of your time and money. By working on new possibilities and potentials, you are working on improving your business efficiency.