Using Technology to Maximize Efficiency
Efficiency can have different meanings for different people. Depending on your management philosophy, what costs are justified to you and what aren’t, what departments you prefer to invest in versus those you feel can coast happily right now, you might be more or less efficient than you think. The perennial problem of the business owner is knowing where to cut costs, and how much to cut so it doesn’t affect productivity or make employees unhappy with their duties.
There are a plethora of positive benefits that technology has allowed us to implement in our business life, and increasing efficiency is certainly one of them. This article will detail how you, the bright business owner you are, can detect where to improve efficiency, how, and what technological solutions to implement.
What is efficiency?
Efficiency is, loosely defined, the quality of being able to achieve a task with the minimal effort and cost applied to achieve a satisfactory result. It means a positive balance in the work/reward ratio of each department, and it’s ideally always improvable.
How To Implement It?
You can implement it in your business in a number of ways. The most reliable, cost-effective way to do so is to utilize technological trends to enact a positive and progressive working objective. Here are just a few ideas:
Advertising:
Advertising has revolutionized itself thanks to the advent of the internet. Instead of taking out television ads at specific time slots, you’re now able to directly influence those who are more likely to view your products. Through social media and Google advertising ID’s, consumers now build up an identifiable profile based on their past purchases, likes and dislikes, websites visited and general spending habits.
This information allows you to figure out what time of day your ad is likely to be seen, where to place it for maximum exposure, and what form of campaign to run. This improves efficiency because a concentrated approach to appropriate consumer advertising exposure is superior to a general approach aimed at the wider public. You will also be able to take out more advertisements for a similar fee.
Printing:
Using managed print services increasing efficiency because having a great idea of your printing requirements allows you to save money in wasted paper expenses. Switching to digital paper solutions also lessens your environmental impact, which is a great way to save costs, and saving cost is usually correlated with greater efficiency. Taking this approach to all of your operational costs, that is, looking for cleaner, cheaper solutions, is a strategy that will serve your well in your battle to be efficient. You’d be surprised where you can make the next savings without affecting the daily operations of your firm.
Communication:
Communications have never been more readily available and more speedily seen. You can have instant messaging conversations, for free, with anyone across the world who possesses an internet connection. This allows you to navigate outsourcing easier, or manage freelancers. This improves efficiency by saving you the trouble of keeping select contracts for small work assignments.