How to be more productive with less resources

ddevereaux

As pocketbooks tighten in our changing economy, business owners and
solo-preneurs are asked to do more with less. So how can small business
owners become even more productive with less time, people-power and
resources than ever before? 



Here are some ideas to help you be more productive with fewer
resources:

Deliver Anytime, Anywhere Access to Your Employees and Clients 



Who among us still works a traditional eight-hour day? More with less
means giving employees and clients freedom to access information the
way they want it, when they want it, and for as long as they need it. Many
robust and affordable solutions are on the market to help teams
collaborate in and around the demands of life. Services like Basecamp
and CentralDesktop offer feature-rich online solutions that give visibility
to critical tasks, milestones, announcements and file postings to the
people you select. This allows business leaders to sequentially engage top
talent and enhance meaningful communication among internal and
external teams. The ability to support the most demanding non-
traditional schedule allows you to do more with less administrative
oversight cost and non-focused resource use. 



Hire Subject Matter Experts 



Remember the small-town stories of the Mayor, who was also Police
Chief, Fire Marshall, Tax Collector and operated a landscaping business
on the side? We can only imagine the level of quality, timeliness, service,
and delivery. As the old saying goes; you can have it CHEAP and GOOD,
but it won`t be QUICK; GOOD and QUICK and it won`t be CHEAP; or CHEAP
and QUICK and it won`t be GOOD. Doing more with less requires business
leaders to make wise resource decisions because many of us cannot
afford the high cost of a good price. 

In our 15-year practice, we have
found Guru and Sologig to be good resources for identifying full-time,
subject matter experts and passionate moonlighters that have saved us
valuable time and resources because they were task focused. Both
systems require you to clearly identify your resource need, qualifiers and
expected deliverables that sets up you to hit the ball out of the park on
the first swing. 



Consider a Virtual Assistant 



Much like subject matter experts, virtual assistants (VA) provide
administrative support to business leaders on an hourly (or as needed)
basis without the expense, liability or overhead of a full time resource.
Talents, experience and offerings vary considerably among VA`s and
building the relationship, expectations, and preferences takes time. VA`s
generally provide their own technology and software, however, enabling
them to contribute quickly to your bottom-line. 


Make time to Reflect, Reevaluate and Rejuvenate 



For many of us fortunate enough to labor in fields we love, our work can
be all consuming. The unyielding cycle of concept, strategy and execution
often leaves little time to reflect on business performance, reevaluate and
realign critical resources, and rejuvenate our minds and bodies
sufficiently enough to make decisions born only from our own vantage
points. Many business leaders have found professional business coaches
to be valuable resources when navigating how to be more productive with
less resources.

Darrin S. Devereaux is president, strategy management and customer
development at Executive Coaching Group, a strategy visibility and
velocity solutions company based in Atlanta, GA. ECG provides process
and performance improvement training, coaching, consulting and
assessment services for clients nationwide