If you are hoping to expand and scale your business in 2021 and beyond, you need to start off right, and that means making sure you are organised and productive. If you have no idea what is going on, even the best ideas will fail to take frutition. Despite having more employees, remaining organised is something that is easier for larger businesses. They have the budget and resources to have a person or a whole team responsible for keeping on top of eveything that is happening.
However, if handled correctly, small businesses can do it just as well. They have to be a little more creative and a little more innovative, but it can be done. Here are some tips to help you:
Think carefully about how you use your space
A tidy and pleasant workspace can help output straight away. If it is cluttered and confusing, it can lead to records and details being misplaced. To start with, make sure that everything has a specific place-whether it is in a filing cabinet, a box, or even a stack on your desk. If you dont have the appropriate space in the workplace, look at renting business storage. Make sure that it is labelled as well, so that it can be taken straight out, rather than spending time digging for it Once something has been used, make sure it is put back in it’s rightful place straight away. Implement a clear desk policy, so that everyone tidies their work station up before they leave the office.
Use a workflow management platform
This is especially useful if you have team members working from home, or if you need to travel. There are a lot of workflow platforms available, all with different features and pricing structures. You should be able to send messages to your coworkers, delegate tasks, and integrate them with any third party applications you use, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. It is advised to compare Microsoft Teams vs. Slack, as both have free versions that may be appropriate for small businesses and organisations.
Organise your inbox
Much like a physical paper one, if your email inbox is filled with unread emails, it can be frustrating and tricky to locate the email you want. It is much easier to remove unwanted emails as soon as they come in, respond or forward them to the appropriate people, or to file them in the correct folders in your inbox as soon as they come in. Regularly look at emails and see if you can unsubscribe from emails that are no longer important to you.
Organise your passwords
Buisnesses, even the smallest ones, use multiple apps and tools that require usernames and passwords. For security reasons, it is advised that you don’t use the same one for different accounts, but at the same time, it can be very difficult to remember.
Google Chrome allows you to store passwords for easy access, but this is not secure to use for sensitive or confidential information, as anyone who has access to your computer or mobile device will use it. Instead, look at some other third party apps that offer a bit more protection, such as 1Password. This may require a small fee, but it is worth it for protecting your privacy.
