Contributed article in our small business series. Enjoy! – Kimberly
How efficient is your business? Are all your procedures and processes running in a streamlined way? If you are left wondering about the answer, then maybe it is time you reviewed your business procedures and looked at ways you can make things run better.
That doesn’t mean you have to consider reducing staff; it just means making the workers you have more efficient by removing duplication and unnecessary work. One of the ways you can improve your workflow, is to invest in better technology.
Skype
Communication between employees can take a lot of time depending on how you currently communicate. Emails, especially those between different buildings, can be difficult if one of the workers is away on leave. However, it could be easier if you could speak to someone else straight away; through modern technology such as Skype.
The other benefit of Skype is for meetings and conferences because you can speak to employees in other buildings without having to make arrangements to get everyone together. You can also include remote workers in in-office meetings.
Shared Documents
If you have ever been trying to work on something only to find that it has been saved on someone’s computer and they are away, you will understand how frustrating it can be. You can improve this situation by using a shared drive such as Microsoft One Drive. It allows you to keep all your documents in one place which everyone has access to all the time.
It also means that if you have a worker who is away on company business or working from home, they will have access to important and relevant documents as well.
Office 365
If you want a more coherent solution to the way your business is working, then you might find a package such as Office 365 extremely useful. Rather than having all your documents on a server in your office, you can upload them all to the cloud using the Office 365 servers. You can also access all the software centrally and tailor it to your own needs.
It will save you downloading a lot of software you don’t need and clogging up your computers. You can download what you need and also add or remove programs as you need.
Available from companies such as bytes.co.uk, both Skype and One Drive comes with the Office 365 package, as well as Excel, Word, and Access. You can even use a shared email system so that everyone has access to the company’s emails. It could be vitally important if there were an issue while you were away from the office.
With an online system, you can eliminate a lot of the problems many companies have with their IT infrastructures. Your data will be more secure because it is held off-site on secure servers. Any problems can also be quickly resolved without any disruption to you or your business.
With these systems in place, you will be able to streamline your workflows and increase your productivity. You will also be able to save money indirectly, by offering more employees working from home.
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