An organized business means productive employees and efficient workflows. You and your team reach better results with fewer efforts, leaving you with more room for creative tasks and consistent growth.
Yet, organizing a business large or small is harder than it looks. Implementing new processes takes time, as you need to plan every step of the way, depending on your goals. Check out these seven organizing tips for your business.
Use Cloud for Storage and Sharing
This service allows you to store all your files online. At the same time, it allows you to access documents from anywhere, from any device that is connected to the internet. It’s easy to use and gives a lot of flexibility to your team, as your employees can work remotely at any time.Besides making things faster, cloud storage and cloud sharing come with a series of advantages for your business:
- You waste less time with sending files through email;
- The cloud works as a backup system, so you don’t have to worry that your documents may be lost if your internal computers get damaged;
- It’s cheaper than keeping all your documents on internal computers;
- Cloud storage is reliable and safe, as most companies in this niche invest significant resources to secure data.
Reduce Paper Consumption
According to the National Association of Productivity and Organizing, paper clutter is the main barrier to productivity in most business large or small. Employees waste important working hours every month sorting and storing documents. In most cases, these papers aren’t even needed in the long run.
By keeping things digital, you save time and cut your costs, as well:
- American companies spend more than $120 billion a year on printed forms;
- Each four-drawer file cabinet costs you around $1,500 a month;
- Each misfiled document costs you an average $125, while a lost document can become a $700 expense for your business.
Digital files are easy to organize. Plus, they’re less likely to get lost or damaged. All you have to do is set an efficient filing system. Whenever you need a specific document, you search it using the right keywords. You get the information you need in seconds – no need to search for misplaced documents in various cabinets.
Track Expenses
Keeping expenses under control is an important element in the business organization. When you take the time to organize expenses by department, function, and type you learn more about your true costs. And you can make better purchasing and production decisions.
Tracking expenses can help you stay organized. Besides this huge advantage, an app that tracks your expenses is an essential tool when preparing documentation for the tax return (or when you get an audit from the IRS).
Organize Projects and Teams
All processes inside your company should be organized and updated on a regular basis. To keep track of all tasks and milestones, you need great project manager skills – planning, communication abilities, time management and negotiation skills, to mention some.
When taking the time to organize workflows and teams you make sure every member of your team stays productive. You get to communicate new goals and plans, set milestones, and stay updated about progress on various projects.
Using a business management tool, you can keep track of all your employees with little effort. You can communicate faster and solve problems in real time, minimizing the negative effects of small errors on the work of the entire team.
Automate Business Operations
Thanks to new technologies, you can automate many repetitive processes inside the company. This gives you and your team more time to focus on the things that matter the most – creative solutions to grow your company.
Automation can help you with almost all processes inside your company. Such as:
- Customer management – a CRM software puts all communications with your customers in a single place. You get to have all emails and documents at hand, to manage customer relationship more efficiently.
- Accounting – you can organize cash flows, invoices, and payments easier using automation tools. Plus, you save time and reduce the risk of human error in bookkeeping.
- Marketing – automation in this field allows you to manage your social media and email marketing campaigns with less effort. In the long run, you get better results, as you reach larger audiences with smaller costs.
Build a Friendly Environment for Your Employees
Organizing your business starts with the office. If you build a friendly and organized working environment, your employees will learn to be more productive. This happens because people get distracted by clutter – too much furniture, cabinets, and tons of documents can add stress to the working environment.
By removing the clutter you help your staff gain clarity. They’ll manage to stay focused on daily tasks and solve working problems in time.
Better than that, you can add plants to improve efficiency in your office. Studies show that a green presence in the working environment can help you increase productivity by 15%. Plus, they allow you to give a new face to your old office and make it more appealing to your employees.
Keep Your Team Motivated
Happy people work better, as they manage to remain concentrate on their working activities. As part of your efforts to organize your business, leave room for improving your employees’ engagement with the company.
This way, they’ll be more motivated – they’ll work better and come up with more creative and innovative ideas for consistent growth. Motivated employees stay organized, have better results and remain for longer inside the company. So, you’ll also improve employee retention rates with this strategy.
What’s Next?
Keeping your business organized is a continuous activity. As you learn new methods to improve workflows and get new management skills, you’ll register better results in terms of efficiency and revenues.
Invest in the right tools and never stop learning about new and innovative methods to improve your activity. Better than that, listen to your employees and encourage them to come up with ideas for organizing better their daily tasks.