Improving Operational Efficiency – 5 techniques/tips

There is no more important function of business than operational efficiency. Without it, waste management goes out the window. An efficient business is saving money and utilizing assets effectively. Its staff and utilities are in the best situations to perform in the best manners. Without efficiency, the business is nowhere near as competitive as it should be to stay in the game, let alone get a head of it.

Operational efficiency is about looking at resources – regardless of how limited – and boosting their performances through the most cost effective and advanced methods available. With that, you maximize the bottom line, customer satisfaction and stay ahead of the game.

Here are five tips for increasing the efficiency of operations in your workplace.

1. Always keep the lines of communication and information open to employees.
   The left hand not knowing what the right is doing isn't a cliché. It’s one of the most famous complaints in business. Inability to communicate and miscommunication are the major reasons a business can seem slower than others. Secure and safe lines that allow employees to interact – whether technological or face-to-face – not only have to be available. Employees need to believe they can comfortably use them to express everything from ideas to their own complaints without anxiety.
2. Keep Your Tech on Top
   Keeping technology up to date ensures the business stays competitive. This is an expenditure that should always be in the budget. Using
   outdated technology stalls efficiency. When customers discover you can’t perform a task as rapidly as the competition, they go to the competition.
3. Training
   Whether it’s the IT guy (or equivalent), the receptionist at the front desk or the sales rep glad-handing clients, make sure they know the latest strategies and tactics behind their profession. Find the most cost effective ways to keep the staff knowledgeable through webinars, seminars, video, and in-house or off-site training.
4. Stop Killing the Trees
   Reports show one of the most wasteful business activities is printing. Any employee who’s ever stopped to pick up their printout will admit there can be mounds of paper that never gets picked up. Or how about sending the same document multiple times after making a single edit without ever getting up from the desk? Stress with employees the importance of not printing until they are sure the document is ready and they will retrieve it for use.
5. Enhance Employee Satisfaction
   There is no greater employee grievance than feeling underappreciated. No, the average business can’t go the distance, like Facebook, with halls where you can ride skateboards. But it is vital every business cultivate an environment that not only challenges employees but comforts them. Satisfied employees give 110 percent all the time.

Operating more effectively and efficiency benefits management, employees and customers. It needs to be a priority for every business.

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