As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. To grow your business, improve employee performance, and improve workflow efficiency, you need to rethink your business management strategy.

Here are four proven tricks that will help you run your SMB easier.

Automate Business Processes

Automation has become a business imperative. It saves employees time by taking care of manual and repetitive processes. Your staff can focus more on the tasks that require analytics, critical thinking, and creativity. 

For example, HR professionals can use automation to minimize menial tasks focus on boosting employee relationships and satisfaction.

Marketing is another field you should automate. From social media posting to SEO reporting, almost any aspect of digital marketing is available for automation.

In production, you can use a wide range of inventory management and enterprise resource planning tools. They improve employee productivity while reducing the risk of overproduction or underproduction.

You may also want to automate appointment scheduling, sorting emails, data analytics, invoicing and billing, accounting, and contact information centralization.

Automated tools enable data centralization. Employees across various teams can access data in real-time and via multiple devices. That way, you will eliminate the silos between departments and reduce the risk of human error. 

Outsource Operations

Outsourcing helps you minimize the costs associated with employee training, onboarding, benefits, and payroll taxes.

Outsourcing business processes also benefits employee performance and morale. Instead of hiring new people, you can invest more in current staff members’ training and education. Most importantly, they will have more time to focus on your organization’s core tasks and missions.

You may want to outsource employee background checking, accounting, bookkeeping, digital marketing, product photography, website maintenance, and customer service.

Enable Transparent Communications in the Workplace

Transparent communications are the nerve center of business success. However, employees often fail to read emails, answer phone calls, and hear spoken announcements. 

Fortunately, you do not need to rely on traditional internal communication channels anymore. Here are several more advanced employee management solutions.

• Team communication tools

Instant messaging apps, such as Slack, provide immediate employee communication and enhance collaboration. 

With video conferencing tools, including Zoom or Microsoft Teams, you can schedule in-person and group calls to boost meeting efficiency. Most importantly, these tools help you engage and manage remote staff members.

• Project management tools

Project management tools, such as Asana and Basecamp, are an effective way to improve workplace transparency. With these tools, project managers can create multiple projects, assign tasks to the right employees, and set transparent deadlines. They can track task completion rates and employee performance. 

On the other hand, employees will avoid information overload. They are added to relevant projects only and receive notifications about the tasks valuable to them. That way, they can set clearer project priorities, manage time more effectively, and never miss deadlines again. 

Most importantly, all staff members can share and access data in real-time and collaborate more efficiently.

• In-door digital signage

Digital signage is visually appealing and easily customizable. As such, it plays a fundamental role in employee management. 

For example, you can integrate your in-door screens with project management tools or employee recognition software. That way, you share the latest information consistently across all departments. Attention-grabbing messages are easier to spot and memorize than loads of emails in employees’ inboxes.

Enhance Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

When they are not satisfied, employees are actively looking for new career advancement opportunities and are more likely to hop jobs. The lack of engagement and morale impacts their overall productivity.

However, research studies show that employers still do not understand the value of employee engagement. Only 29% of employees are very satisfied with their current career advancement opportunities. 

So, how to engage the rest?

• Build an employee diversity and inclusion policy and prevent bullying in the workplace. 
• Offer continuous career advancement opportunities. 
• Design a more productive workspace. Add lots of natural light, take steps to improve air quality, and choose pleasant office colors that increase productivity. 
• Purchase ergonomic furniture to reduce back pain, migraines, and eye strain. 
• Offer gym memberships and promote a healthy lifestyle. 
• Motivate them to take regular breaks and balance their private and professional lives. When employees are mentally tired, they are more likely to underperform and experience burnout.

Conclusions

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for growing your business. However, these tips address the crucial aspects of your business management strategy, such as internal communications, business process automation, and employee management. I hope they will help!

Eve Anderson is a marketing specialist turned blogger. Interested in sports and exciting travel destinations. Love to share content that can inform people.