“Small business isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the brave, the patient, and the persistent. It’s for the overcomer."
Running a small business with limited resources is far more challenging than managing a large corporation. At the end of the day, it all boils down to how efficiently small business owners can utilize limited resources (time, money, materials) at their disposal.
Small business owners have a lot of things to manage simultaneously - recruiting talented individuals, creating strategies to create brand awareness, ensuring compliance and legal responsibilities, involving themselves in marketing campaigns to expand the business’ Treach, to name a few.
The very size of small businesses requires their owners to take a different management approach to achieve high productivity, which eventually leads to increased sales & revenue.
Achieving high productivity - easier said than done
For small business owners trying to get the most out of limited resources, achieving high productivity is easier said than done. Many obstacles stand in the way, namely:
Poor task management
Poor utilization of work hours
Failure to track individual work progress
Lack of scheduling
Poor communication
Disengaged employees
Bad people management
Using outdated measures to track productivity
Research says that the average employee is only productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes per day.
While this figure can deviate from organization to organization, small business owners should realize that even their most efficient employees are not productive consistently in a day.
That’s why it’s crucial to ensure that you get the most out of your employees while they are at their productive peak. Wait! That’s not to say that you should overburden them with tasks and set unrealistic deadlines. This will make matters worse for you, which is the last thing you want as a small business owner.
BMG analysis has found that employees under excessive daily pressure at work are 4X more likely to be disengaged and twice as likely not to be motivated to do an efficient job.
So, what can you do to ensure optimal work time utilization and increase productivity without disturbing your employees’ work-life balance?
Sometimes, it’s not big but small steps that can make an enormous difference in improving the productivity of your business.
Here are some valuable ways to elevate productivity in a short time.
Five Proven Tips For Elevating Your Small Business Productivity
Leverage communication and collaboration tools
In this digital age, when more people are working remotely than ever before, are you still using old-school ways to collaborate and communicate with your employees? Today, collaboration has grown beyond audio calls, emails, and text messages. Small business owners need to visualize tasks progress and monitor individuals to ensure the work is moving forward as planned. Using a powerful team collaboration tool can help bring you on the same page with your employees and clients for better transparency, timely exchange of information, and coordination.
Cloud-based, SaaS products for collaboration facilitate instant communication as users have visual information of all their tasks, events, and milestones through features like real-time updates, Table View, Board View, Scheduling Calendar, Discussion Boards, etc. Your entire team can also store and organize all their files and documents in one place for easier collaboration with dispersed team members. You can access collaboration tools on any device, from any location.
Don’t multitask
If you think that asking your employees to multitask is a way to get more done with limited resources, think again. You may be doing your small business productivity more harm than good. Multitasking can take a serious toll on your employees’ productivity as they simultaneously switch their focus from one task to another. On the other hand, when we tend to focus our attention on a single task at a time, it’s likely to result in more efficient, error-free, and high-quality work.
Multitasking leads to a waste of time, proving costly to any small business. So, you should discourage multitasking and encourage task delegation for efficient utilization of your workforce. Smart task management allows you to allocate tasks to the right people after assessing individual workload. This also ensures a clear division of job responsibilities and minimizes the chances of confusion and conflicts amongst employees. If you're uncertain about how to implement these strategies effectively, consider seeking guidance from a qualified business mentor who can provide personalized advice and help you optimize your small business operations.
Use a time tracking tool
A recent Deloitte study shows that over 30% of professionals believe that manual time entry and data adjustments are two of the most time-consuming processes.
The good news is using a time tracking tool you can eliminate lost productivity and recapture more than $666,400 in yearly wages (Acumen Data Systems, 2020). Often, small business employees tend to spend more time on less-significant tasks, which leaves them with little time to attempt high-priority tasks.
Using a powerful time tracking system can help small business owners instill a sense of accomplishment and accountability amongst their employees. For example, setting the start and due dates for tasks and setting time estimates for specific tasks gives employees a clear timeline to start and finish tasks.
Also, setting timeframes for tasks makes employees more accountable for their actions. Small business owners and project managers can monitor individual time data, bringing transparency to performance reviews.
Create favorable working conditions
There’s a good reason why corporate giants spend heavily on creating awesome workspaces that uplift employees’ moods and motivate them to work harder. Yes, cheerful employees are the most productive.
That’s not to say that small businesses should bust their budgets and go overboard with setting expensive productive workspaces. Even minor adjustments can make a significant difference. It’s more about making innovative changes to your office spaces than making expensive changes.
Yes, there are good chances that your employees are working remotely. Why should you bother to spend money then? Even if you have remote workers, you can also take steps to keep their morale high. Small gestures, like organizing monthly team lunch parties, giving away free coffee coupons, or sending WFH goodies, can go a long way in inspiring employees to put in their best efforts at work.
Recognize good performance
Is there any employee who doesn’t want to be rewarded and awarded for their good performance in front of the entire organization? I have never met a pro who doesn’t. The point is unless you appreciate your top performers, you are doing nothing to motivate them and boost their self-esteem.
Reducing employee turnover is crucial to small businesses as frequent hiring, onboarding, and training of new recruits might not be financially feasible. Especially in unpredictable conditions caused due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Employee appreciation goes beyond showering praising words, giving away trophies and custom awards tailored to their individual interests. You need to reward your best performers too. You can reward them based on individual interests. Find out their special interests, what they’d be interested in, their hobbies, and their wishlist. Show your employees you really care about them.
Conclusion
For small businesses, achieving optimal productivity is crucial as it determines their overall sales, revenue, and success (or failure). Surprisingly, some small business owners think that the only way to register more productivity is overburdening employees with tasks. This cannot be farther from the truth.
You can boost your small business productivity by taking the small but smart steps listed in this blog. Once you implement these tips at your workplace, you’ll find that small things can make a big difference indeed.
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