3 Time-Costliest Habits Your Office Should Ditch Now
Is you business still relying on outdated ways of doing things? Not embracing newer technology or methods could be costing you thousands of pounds in revenue and your employees motivate will drop. Here we give you 3 things to look out for that will help you save time – and money.
Time is money.
That’s precisely because the adage is part of the business mentality that Britons happily work over 50 hours a week, aka generously giving 10 hours or over of unpaid overtime. For employers, overtime is a goldmine that saves them plenty of money in the long term.
Most business owners argue that working long days is a standard practice to manage heavy workload within their structure. However, staying long hours at the office is not the ideal solution to manage your workload effectively. Aside from disrespecting the necessary work/life balance, it also puts your employees under constant pressure, which threatens productivity in the long run.
Ultimately, the ability to keep up with your workload relies on time management. Of course, it’s fair to say your employees probably don’t need to be told that procrastination and lack of task prioritisation can waste their time. They’re functioning adults, so let’s assume that they already are managing their time as best as they can. Instead, you need to focus on the little things you do every day that are costing your team precious time.
Keeping all info on paper
“I’ve just printed a report out. Can you check it? I’ve let it on your desk.”
“Here are the brochures I brought back from the trade show.”
“I printed out my draft email to a client. I need your opinion on it.”
If any of these sound familiar, your team is probably drowning in a sea of paperwork.
The problem with paper is that not only does it actively decimate forests, but it is also so easily misplaced. Trying to find a specific document in the office can take several hours, regardless of how tidy you keep the place. Instead, you could be saving everyone time by switching to digital data, which can be stored and retrieved online is a matter of milliseconds. You can even get rid of your VOIP fax machine and replace it through a digital system that scans the document and sends it to an email server instead. Digital data can be found through a search function, something you don’t have for paper documents.
Spending too long on less profitable tasks
Small companies and marketing agencies are often guilty of spending too much time on tasks that are not linked to revenue. If your team spend too much time sorting out their emails or helping clients on unpaid projects, it’s time for a wakeup call.
Activities that don’t bring in the cash should receive only a minimum time over the day. The same argument is valid for colleagues’ interruptions, clients’ crisis and social events. It’s there no money in it; it shouldn’t be a priority.
Let’s just organize a meeting to discuss it
British companies have a habit of organising meetings at every step of a decision. Unfortunately, 71% of meetings are unproductive, wasting everybody’s time and not coming to any solution. Unless there is something that needs to shared face-to-face, replace meeting times by productive working time, and your staff will be able to get a lot more done, making more money for your business.
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Wasting time is inherent to the modern office culture. Time management can only help your team so much; You need to actively transform the internal work processes, from digitalisation to prioritising money-making tasks, to encourage effective work habits.