If you are having problems within your organization regarding compressing your workflow and optimizing your operations, the primary obstacle that you and your employees are most likely encountering is having tons of unproductive busy work.
According to a recent survey conducted on more than 10,000 workers by Asana, 60% of a person’s time at work is spent on work about work, or in other words, on activities they weren’t hired to do. This includes tasks such as switching between apps, asking others for information, chasing down work colleagues for status updates, and everything else. To get rid of this busy work and get down to business, ask yourself if there are any processes that you can streamline, communicate, automate, and prioritize.
So, if you want to become great at what you do and prepare your company for years to come to get the most out of your endeavor, you will need to put some effort into simplifying business processes and overall workflow. Here are five ways to do that in no time.
Investigate And Make A Record Of Your Present Procedures
Listing and evaluating each stage of a business process is the first thing that should be done when trying to think of ways to make those processes more efficient. This includes having an understanding of how various business processes operate in the various divisions of your organization.
Next, conducting an in-depth analysis of the functions that are currently being performed by your company can help you determine where you may be making mistakes and where there is room for improvement. Make sure that you talk to the people who own the process as well as the people who are performing the work. Include their comments and suggestions in the enhancements that you plan to make to the existing functions of the business.
You could consider outsourcing some of your everyday operations to outside professionals that can do the heavy lifting for you, helping you optimize your processes. For example, if you feel like your team wastes too much time and resources on financial spreadsheets, you can consider outsourcing an Excel programmer to set up those projects for your company and automate the process on your behalf.
Separate Each Stage Of The Process Into Its Components
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After you have understood the present business function, you may begin to break it down into bits that are easier to handle. Your chances of successfully simplifying the complete company process will increase in proportion to the degree to which you can reduce the workflow operations. Continue moving forward until you find a way to reach the outcome you are looking for.
Determine Which Tasks Take Precedence
Rearrange every procedure so that it is based on how important it is to the company. The next step is to devise a method of ranking that is suitable for your needs. On a scale from one to ten, for instance, you can assign a priority rating to each business procedure, with one representing the highest priority. In this manner, you will be able to adequately maintain your workflow and consistently achieve ideal outcomes after each completion.
Maintain Documentation
No one, no matter how much experience they have or how well they understand something, can remember all of the steps and procedures of every process workflow. Because of this, it is very important to outline each step that is required to carry out the task in each phase efficiently. It doesn't need to be outlined in a formal document at all times. It is sufficient to have a notepad close at hand to detail each step contained inside a current process.
Be sure to record what is taking place and offer documentation of what is taking place. This way, you can ensure optimized workflows operate as well as they should without the emergence of unanticipated problems.
Perform Tests On The New Work Processes
After you have converted your documentation into an automated procedure, you should put it through its steps and assess how successfully your enhancements have been implemented. Observe how it performs in an actual working environment firsthand. Make any necessary adjustments to guarantee that it will function as intended.
Final Thoughts
Business processes are the foundation of every company. They are recurring duties that must be completed regularly. The effectiveness of these business processes can distinguish a good company from a great one.
So, try looking for some ways to streamline processes if you feel like you aren't using all of your time for highly skilled tasks and that it's a little bit difficult to move things along. By strategically investigating and minimizing busy work in your processes, you’ll be able to concentrate on the task that matters to you–and maybe you and your workforce will be able to enjoy your work days more fully.