Whether you reopened on April 12th or are counting down the days until May 17th, now is a really exciting time for hospitality, retail, and plenty of other industries who are finally getting back on track.
For many, there’s a pressing need to maximise efficiency, productivity, and make up for lost time. And it’s understandable. We’ve had a year of uncertainty and forced downtime. While it’s impossible to completely counteract the financial strain brought on by three national lockdowns, we do have a few ideas on how you can make the most of the rest of 2021.
Revisit all systems and processes
There’s no time like the present for trimming the bloat from your organisation’s systems and processes. Chances are, there will be largely inefficient tasks littered throughout your organisation – on all levels.
Research shows that supervisors and managers spend 19% of their working hours doing admin. They spend 39% of their time doing ‘other’ tasks – primarily made up of sitting in meetings. And only 6% of their working hours are spent actively supervising their teams.
Over the coming weeks, go through your organisation or department’s daily operations step by step, taking the time to identify which tasks are non-negotiable and which could be streamlined or made more efficient by technology. You’ll be surprised by how much time you can free up.
Reduce your administrative burden
Which leads us on to reducing yours and your staff’s administrative burden. While streamlining your systems and processes can significantly help in this department, reducing time spent on daily administrative tasks is a beast all its own.
You need to break down exactly what tasks are capturing your attention. How much of your time is spent on operational admin tasks like recruitment or payroll? How about regulatory admin tasks like tax returns – ones that are required by law, but don’t directly impact your daily operations?
From here, you can prioritise. There’s no avoiding the urgent jobs that needed your attention yesterday, but there’s no need to worry about and waste time on tasks that aren’t urgent. So identify the urgent tasks, allocate time accordingly, and then spend the rest of your days focusing on where you add the most value. Again, technology can help you delegate work to certain members of staff and give you oversight on when it’s completed.
Focus on quality over quantity
It can be tempting to dive headfirst into new revenue streams as a way of making up for lost income. But the thinner you spread you and your team, the worse off your organisation will be in the long run. The phrase jack of all trades, master of none, comes to mind.
And this is especially critical when it comes to COVID regulations and health and safety. If your staff are struggling under the pressure to do 10 times more work than they were before lockdown, can you really say you’re giving enough attention to essential safety checks and regulations?
Even though it’s hard to sit back and wait for your finances to catch up over time, you need to focus on quality over quantity this year. If you have the resources and manpower to bolster your products and services, go for it. But, if not, focus on what you do well, and look at ways to do it even better.
It’s incredible to see so many of our favourite businesses coming back to life. But business is still business, and there’s no denying we’ve got some making up to do. Hopefully, this has given you some points for consideration when it comes to making the most of the coming months. And, as always, we’re here to help if you need.
The Inform People platform is an intuitive, tailor-made solution for multi-site organisations looking to boost productivity and efficiency. From your communications to your HR processes, and everything in between, we help everyone across your business become more informed and productive. To find out more, get in touch with us via email.
