Productivity – 6 Small Steps For a More Productive Day

Strategy Plan One

June 25, 2012 

Productivity Improvements

Business owners and staff all around encounter busy agendas daily, with most wanting to achieve more productive days.  However, in the complex business world with volumes of work to do, many struggle with getting things done.  It is sometimes common at the end of the day for some to state and ask, “Wow, what a brutal day…Did I get anything done?”

Entrepreneurs, staff, specialists and others feel buried under mountains of tasks and may feel during periods that nothing gets done.

But through a simple few tweaks, the work force, and you as an entrepreneur, can improve and show marked, increased productivity.

1.  Productive Days – Getting Organized

Individuals and businesses can get through the mountains with careful planning and organization.  Part of getting organized in the volumes of tasks is documenting it out, listing tasks, jobs and projects and to prioritize them.  Many tasks and essential duties fall through the cracks when businesses and individuals are not organized.  To keep focused, a list of prioritized action items can be developed and tracked to be more organized.

2.  Project Management Tools to Improve Productivity 

In developing lists, prioritizing and tracking action items, project management tools, such as Microsoft Project can assist.  These tools make it easier to develop a timeline from first tasks to completion of projects, step by step, milestone by milestone.  In using tools such as Project, a manager can establish tasks, attach time frames and track persons responsible.  With delegating tasks down to operational specialists, you lighten the load for others that are overwhelmed.

3.  Productivity Improvements Through Automation

How much manual labor or duties is your team performing that take up significant amounts of time?  Can any of these duties be automated?  Although you need to be careful around adding a personal touch to communications through email, you may find through evaluation that some of your email broadcasts to client bases or internal staff can be automated.  An example is establishing frequent reminders utilizing tools within email platforms.

In other productivity improvement examples, payment and shipping processes can be automated easily with such platforms as Paypal and others.  In most business operational cases, there may not be a justifiable need for a full-time payment processing clerk.  E-payments could lessen the work load of administrative staff by implementing e-payment systems.   In another valuable example of automation, the Kiva Robot system is revolutionizing the way warehouses work, as automated robots can run around the clock, helping pick orders and move goods.

4.  Behavior and your leadership actions

As an entrepreneur, the way you act and provide leadership can have a dramatic effect on staff.  Leading and managing in a genuine manner, with strength and passion can have an immediate impact on staff productivity.  Leaders that can motivate staff, illustrating the vision and use of positive tones can lead to positive impacts on the floor and higher productivity.

5.  Partnering

Productivity can be improved by bringing on a synergistic partner to the business. Partnership building can lead to the sharing of projects and duties, but also sharing of the risks and benefits.  You may find that partners and or contracting out will lead to higher productivity and resolution of complex projects in a more timely manner.

6.  Recharging and Health to be Productive

For most, it is not humanly possible to plug through mountains of tasks hour after hour.  Long hours of complicated, tenuous or repetitive tasks can lead to overload of mistakes and burnout.  People’s performance will improve if the body and brain are given a chance to break and recharge.  Ensure you and staff take appropriate breaks frequently as scheduled.  Certain Labor laws and regulations were put into place for a reason … bodies can’t handle longer hours, with very little breaks.  Even though there are laws and regulations regarding this, show adaptability as a leader and allow better working conditions with flexible work-life balance programs.

The health of employees and your own health should be main priorities.  Without healthy individuals, there would be no employees on the floor and no business.  Take the time to promote healthy living, from good rest to eating right to great exercise.  A healthy work force will be a more productive workforce, with less medical issues.  Integrate your programs around healthy living .. you obviously care about your employees.

With a few changes in your organization and the way your lead as a responsible entrepreneur, can lead to higher productivity all around.  Start with practices and actions that will lead to higher productivity with yourself, and then lead by example.  You will note that in small steps productivity will improve across your business.

Relevant blogs and articles:

• Strategies to Improve Performance in your Personal Life and Business
• Communication Strategies, Policies and Processes to Control Messages
• EService, Social Media and Customer Service Trends [infographic]
• Positive Words – Business Communications in a Positive Way

Productivity:

• Productivity Articles
• Simple Productivity – Essentials
• Economic Studies – Productivity & Performance

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One

Economic Efficiency – 5 Tips to Create Efficiencies in Your Business

Strategy Plan One

April 17, 2012 

Economic Efficiency

In tough economic times, the global economic environment is striving for economic efficiency.  As an entrepreneur you need to keep operations running smooth and cost-effective.  

Competitive environments require team solutions and creativity in developing and implementing efficiencies in your business.  Through economic efficiency and efficient operations your business will realize a higher earning potential and at the same time, experience reduced, cost-effective methods and procedures to earning that revenue.

Here are 5 tips to creating economic efficiency in your business.

Economic Efficiency – Eliminate Redundant Procedures in Your Business

Undertake an operational review to identify unnecessary repetitive methods and procedures.  Many approval processes go way over board in requiring multiple persons to review, analyze and either recommend approval or approve a project, cost, or contract.  Federal government processes in many cases highlight this problem, as procedures go over the top to ensure the highest accountability.  Maintain your accountability, but streamline your operations to the necessary reduced human resources to make decisions.  Rely on and empower your professional team to make great recommendations at each level.  With elimination of steps in procedures, your operation will be more cost-effective.

Implement Technology Wherever it Makes Sense for Economic Efficiency

Automate procedures when it makes sense from operational and budgetary perspectives.  Reduce laborious tasks if automation and technology can do the same task more efficiently and cost-effective over the long run.  The implementation of Kiva System robots in warehouse operations is one example of efficiencies gained through automation.  It would also be a shocker if businesses have still not adapted to computerized sales, accounting and inventory systems – a must in business operations to keep competitive and cost-effective.

Economic Efficiency – Make it Easier For Everyone to work together

In business operations today, being all physically located in one location is not as important as it was decades ago, due to improved technology and connectedness.

Through innovation and technology, staff can work at any location and be easily connected by phone, mobile device, web or cloud-based applications.  All current technology methods make communication and business functions more smooth and easy.  Businesses that can provide work-life balance flexibilities and mechanisms, can ensure the work can get easily done from any location.  Collaboration across units, teams and partners can happen seamlessly with the implementation and the availability of smart technology in your organization.

Business Efficiencies – Making the Customer Process Easier

Straight forward information and sales procedures for your products and services will make the overall experience with customers more effective and efficient.  Make the product or service information readily available to the customer, whether at a physical location or web-based.  When designing e-commerce sites, ensure the client can easily navigate through to the completion of the sales process.  Nail down a streamlined sales process both internally and externally and ensure that your have contingency CRM plans to deal with issues around customer complaints.  The more prepared you are, the less time per customer it will take to generate revenue or resolve an issue.  More time can then be spent on building the relationship aspect of customer service with more customers.

Business Efficiencies – Getting the work done without the Travel

If you want to quickly and effectively reduce costs in your organization, travel budgets can be significantly reduced, while getting the same scope of work (meetings) done by using technology.  Phone and video conferencing can easily replace face-to-face meetings and the costs associated.  Meeting in person may be the richest form of communication in cutting a deal or working collaboratively.  However utilizing video conferencing or using Skype or other forms is more the standard and acceptable these days.  As an entrepreneur you will have to make a careful decision on the appropriate forms of communication for the appropriate audience, while cognizant of the need for cost-effective methods.

Economic efficiency can be achieved in your business, however ensure you take adequate business planning steps to maximize benefits from reduced resources and methods.

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One

Smart Meter – Too Many Issues To Be Efficiently Smart?

Strategy Plan One

April 15, 2012 

Smart Meter

Across North America and around the globe in many jurisdictions, smart meters are being installed, sometimes without much notice and much choice.  Electrical power companies are eager to jump on this efficiency improvement in monitoring and managing power consumption.

Implementation has been so rapid that consumers have not had a chance to digest the information and implications around these new devices.  In its early implementation period, consumers and critics have come out speaking against the efficient electrical monitoring devices, citing smart meter issues ranging from impacting health and personal finances, to an increase in illegal electrical energy consumption.

Smart Meter – How it Works as an Efficiency Measure

There are some measurable benefits to the implementation of smart meters to the power grid that make solid business cases.  The devices allow the utility companies to accurately monitor the consumption on an hourly basis and by wireless transmission, send the data instantaneously to the power companies.  In the better management of power consumption, many utility companies have changed their billing game plan by charging tiered rates for peak and non-peak utilization periods.  The consumer, with new gained knowledge on smart meter electrical consumption, would alter consumption patterns to save, and thus the electrical companies would then spend less acquiring external power sources.  Reports are citing an average of 8-9% decrease in energy consumption in jurisdictions where the smart meter has been installed.

Smart meter benefits spreadsheet courtesy of emeter.com

The wireless transmission units would also save with the elimination of utility soldiers marching up and down residential and commercial streets, monitoring,reading and recording monthly power consumption by consumers on the old devices.  No need for employees when a smart meter can send the data seamlessly through its wireless device.  This same work force would either be down-sized or moved to be trained in more value-added positions in the power utility corporations.

The smart meter has been toted as one of these devices that would stamp out the theft of electrical power by those who bypassing old metered systems.  These new devices would pinpoint any anomalies in patterns and target the theft issue right at the source.  With a track record of normal electricity consumption, utility companies would be monitoring to observe changes in this pattern.  This factor alone is said to save the utility companies potentially hundreds of millions in not into the billions in the long-term.

Smart Meter – Consumer Experience

The installation process has not been a smooth one in many areas, with concerned consumers raising concerns and demanding old meters to not be replaced by the newer, more efficient smart meter.  In some cases, legal challenges have been initiated by consumers and groups.

Results experienced by consumers to date have been less than favorable with most bills rising in costs.  With very little warning and education to adjust to changing methods, the initial period has been disastrous for some residential consumers who are experiencing double the cost for electrical services.  This is mostly due to the daily consumption occurring during peak periods.  The electrical companies’ strategy of tiered peak changing is hurting mid-lower income level consumers who can’t afford to turn on the lights during peak periods.

Potential Health Risks of the Smart Meter

Posted all over the internet and in the media are reports that the electrical signals coming off of these smart meter devices are powerful and could potential cause severe health risks.  Similar to the concerns around cell phone use, advocates are calling for more research and testing prior to autocratic implementation by power companies.  Several videos on YouTube demonstrate the measurable power of these wireless signals originating from smart meters.  The power companies have rebutted with a “tested and safe for use” message, but this somewhat biased and not coming from independent science sources.

Theft Continues Despite the Implementation of the Smart Meter

In a detailed FBI report, the FBI warned power companies that smart meters and power grids are easily being bypassed and tampered with.  It appears that smart meters have not alleviated the issues of power theft as rogues have found new methods of stealing off the grid, outside of where a smart meter measures.  The FBI has issued warning that thieves can easily penetrate the smart meter with software hacks and thus power theft at the smart meter level.   In Puerto Rico alone, this problem could cost the utility companies $400 Million per year.

Warnings have also been broadcasted about power theft at the street level, before power comes in and is monitored by building smart meters.  It would appear that primary thieves such as marijuana grow operators would now find ways of bypassing at the street level and powering up operations, to be unnoticed by power company monitoring.

Critics have called out the strategic placement of smart meters within buildings as the wrong placement and have called for placement of meters at the area level to pinpoint area problems.  Critics have also blasted the elimination of employees as most anomalies or identified problems were being observed by humans when physically on site at a location that was stealing power.  Gone is that ability to physically monitor and observe with a smart meter device (it’s not that smart to observe).

Smart Meter – Creative Work Around?

As fast as these smart meters can be implemented, the consumers and pseudo-entrepreneurs come out to demonstrate (via Youtube) several methods to counter smart meters.  It may be hard to determine if any of these methods, from magnets to tin foil, actually work, but for sure appear to be illegal methods of interfering and tampering with a device (and thus a theft on its own).

The best, more constructive solution to the potential multitude of issues would be to put pressure on power companies, local power authorities and all levels of governments.  Voices, feedback needs to be heard on this, and everyone’s collective, valid feedback has power that a smart meter can read.

The Smart Meter – is it really worth it?  Too early and not enough research & development to implement?  Does it really curb electrical theft?  Are we absolutely sure there are no health risks to these wireless transmitting devices?  Too costly to be installed broadly then ripped out after a successful consumer legal challenge?  Speak out, research more and if you feel unsafe or being gauged, make your voice be heard.

Strategy Plan One

http://strategyplanone.com

Business information, resources and tips for the entrepreneur

© 2012 Strategy Plan One