Get Your Employees Organized and Keep Your Clients Happy
There’s nothing more frustrating as a business owner than lost productivity. The core purpose of any business is to provide solutions. However, when employees are spending as much effort doing unimportant tasks as they are making a client’s dream a reality, businesses begin to stray. They lose valuable time and money. For many existing businesses with established clients, putting into practice solid organizational principles feels like an uphill battle. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be! By taking a few simple and easy to implement steps, businesses can create a culture of organization. This benefits both their clients and their bottom line.
Assess Where Your Business Can Benefit From Organization the Most
Every business has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. Some struggle with outdated technology, others with a lack of clear guidance and procedure. Before your business can successfully establish a solid organizational foundation, you must find your business’s weaknesses and address them.
Examine the physical state of your offices and the way your employees work. Do they communicate effectively and promptly? Is information organized in an easily accessible, intuitive manner? When a problem arises, is there an established procedure for handling the problem? Is there a chain of command in place to handle any potential escalation? Have a solid idea of how smoothly your business is running and knowing what obstacles are impeding your employees’ productivity. That will make it easier to identify where your current organizational structure is floundering and where it is achieving results.
Make Needless Complexity a Thing of the Past
Clarity is one of the core principles of successful organization. For many businesses, integral procedures are shrouded in confusion and complexity. This makes it hard for employees to know where to look, what to do, and when to do it.
Emphasize consensus within your team and encourage your employees to take an active role in the decision making process. This serves a two-fold purpose: clarifying ambiguous policies and situations, and empowering employees to take responsibility. This influences not just their own work but the continued success of the decisions they played a part in making. Consider implementing new technology and procedures for communication and information storage. This makes it easier for employees to access the information they need to clarify any situation or project request.
Consider moving your company towards paperless solutions. This can make information easier to find and reference. Changing over to an open source ticket system, for example, can offer greater flexibility and customization. That ensures that issues raised by clients remain visible to all employees until they are solved. This will streamline the communication process and make your clients feel valued and listened to. You may consider digitizing your client records via an online application framework, or bring in-house and remote employees together via virtual channels like Slack.
Simplify Your Employees’ Workloads and Always Follow Up
For many businesses, budgets sometimes run tight, and employees are regularly required to take on more than they can handle. They strive to keep clients happy and satisfied. Make sure employees prioritize and divide up labor, and keep abreast of the workload each individual employee is taking on. This can ensure that employees remain as productive and as engaged in each project. This reduces the cost of burnout and turnover. Incentivize good performance, keep employees aware of good organizational habits, and take steps to curb the harmful effects of seniority. This can make new and seasoned employees alike feel connected to their work and their team. This may further streamline the process of establishing a culture of organization from top to bottom.
Organization is not a one and done concept; it is a continuous process. Ensure that your organizational structure best meets the needs of both your employees and your clients. This is vital to both keep your employees engaged in the decision making process. It ensures that impediments to communication and information sharing within your business are identified and overcome.
