Companies are a bit like helicopters – all their moving parts have to work all the time. If they don’t, then they risk spinning out of control, often with disastrous consequences.
Efficiency is a big deal in modern companies, but not something that everyone manages to achieve. The productivity distribution between firms in the same industry is tremendous. Some are generating hundreds of thousands of dollars of value per employee per year. Others barely managed to scratch $10,000.
However, experts have looked into the problem and discovered that the structural reasons for these differences are minimal. Mostly, it comes down to practices implemented by companies themselves.
So what can you do to boost efficiency in your place of work? How can you become one of these world-beating businesses?
Look At What Isn’t Working First
The best businesses run like well-oiled machines, churning out products and services, and delivering quality to more than 99 percent of customers.
Sometimes, though, it is difficult to see the wood for the trees, and companies stick with processes, even if they’re not the best way of doing things.
Private charter jets, for instance, often only run for 200 hours per year, even though the optimal running time is more like 1,500. Running planes around a quarter of the time is how you get the most value out of them.
The trick is always to be thinking the phrase, “there must be a better way.” If you’re perpetually unhappy with your processes, you’ll eventually push yourself to think of new ideas and move your enterprise forward.
Stop Using Outdated Technology
If you’re using outdated technology, you need to stop right now and update it. Old tech is one of the most significant barriers to efficiency in your business. Training and capital will only get you so far. But with technology, the sky’s the limit.
You can start with straightforward things. If you’ve not replaced traditional lighting with T8 4ft LED tube light options in your offices, warehouses, and industrial facilities, please do. You’ll slash your lighting costs by about 80 percent in one fell swoop.
Next, examine your software stack. Figure out whether you could automate rote tasks with machine learning or AI.
Finally, investigate whether you could use integration to improve your company. Remember, you don’t have to replace your software outright. Sometimes, you can get external IT specialists to integrate new software tools into your existing stack.
Make Your Solution End-To-End
As a business, you want to ensure that you’re not overly reliant on the services of another company to deliver your final product to customers.
Sure, you’re inevitably going to have some suppliers. But you want to be responsible for as much of the customer journey as possible, providing them with a solution that allows them to get everything they need in one place.
Efficiency in your business is a big deal. It means the difference between becoming a world-beating company and one that just pays the bills. And that’s what you want, right?
