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How to Improve Employee Efficiency

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  As a business owner, you want to get the most value out of your employees. After all, one of the biggest expenses a business can incur is labor. However, you won’t get the most out of your employees’ efforts by making them work harder.  Instead, you should help them achieve the best results for your business by helping them work smarter and with the greatest possible ease. This is what improving employee efficiency is all about. Efficiency is doing things the right way, with minimal waste of time and effort. It is a key ingredient of productivity. So how do you improve employee efficiency? Here are 10 ways to do this: 1. Set clear goals with your team.  Goals give direction to your team’s efforts. Your employees need to be clear about what’s important so they will know where to focus their attention, time, and energy.  2. Make sure that employees have tasks that match their skills. Employees tend to be efficient with the tasks they’re good at. Also, they are more motivated when they
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Time Management or Energy Management: Which is Better for Productivity?

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  Do you struggle to be productive? If you ask a handful of people for advice on how to get more done, you’d probably get the same answer, “You need to manage your time.” But there are those who say, “Forget time management. You’re better off managing your energy.” However, both time management and energy management are essential to productivity. They complement each other. Actually, you should manage your time in such a way that you make the best use of your energy. Here’s how to do that: 1. Determine your peak time. Your peak time is that time of day when your energy level is optimal. This is when you should “eat the frog” and deal with the tasks that require the most focus and energy. Some productivity and self-help gurus would tell you that the best time to work is in the morning, while your mind is still fresh. However, not all people are early birds. Some are night owls; they do their best work during the evening until the wee hours of the morning. When you want to work is really
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SOPs for Businesses: The Right Way to Write Them

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  Do you want to have more control over the consistency and quality of your product or service? Are you looking for a way to help your employees to avoid costly mistakes?  You must provide your team clear-cut instructions on the tasks they perform. You can do this by writing standard operating procedures, which are more commonly known as SOPs.  A standard operating procedure is a set of detailed, step-by-step instructions describing how to perform a specific task in order to achieve a desired outcome. Apart from ensuring that tasks are done correctly, SOPs also save managers a lot of time and effort because they facilitate task handovers and the training of new hires. They also help employees troubleshoot problems on their own by giving them a reference that lets them know what should have been done and what to do should certain situations arise. To be effective, an SOP must be clear. There should be no room for ambiguity, confusion, and misinterpretation. Also, the document should be
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Manage yourself first: A guide to reduce workplace stress

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  Manageable demands and workplace stress are often spoken about in the same breath. And it's no wonder - with the ever-increasing pace of life, it can be difficult to keep up. For many people, the demands of work are becoming increasingly unmanageable, leading to feelings of stress and anxiety. It's important to remember that we all have a different threshold for what we can handle. What might be a manageable workload for one person could be overwhelming for another. The key is to find a balance that works for you. If you're starting to feel overwhelmed, talk to your boss or HR department about ways to lighten your load. You may also want to consider making some changes in your personal life to reduce the amount of stress you're under. By taking proactive steps to manage your workload and reduce stress, you can help ensure a healthy work/life balance. In today's business world, it's all too easy to get caught up in the culture of "hustle." With the al
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Why Don't Americans Take More Vacations?

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  The United States is the only advanced economy in the world that does not guarantee its workers paid vacation days, and American workers collectively leave $52.4 billion worth of paid time off on the table each year, according to a new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). Moreover, the report finds that among OECD countries, the United States ranks dead last in terms of the percentage of private-sector workers with paid vacations. There are a number of reasons why Americans don't take more vacations. For one, the U.S. is a workaholic culture where many people feel guilty about taking time off. In addition, American workers are often afraid of being seen as slacking off or replaceable if they take time off. Moreover, many Americans simply cannot afford to take a vacation, given the high cost of travel and the fact that so many workers are living paycheck to paycheck. The CEPR report includes a number of recommendations for how the U.S. can improve its re
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The top 5 reasons people don't get work done

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  Procrastination is a constant drag in many people's daily lives. Getting rid of the things that block getting work done is both an art and a science. Like anything you wish to excel at you need to put in daily practice to master focus and become the master of procrastination. Let's look at the top 5 reasons people don't get work done: Perfectionism – The need to make everything just right can be a huge barrier to getting started on any task. If you're waiting for the perfect conditions to begin, you'll never get anything done. Procrastination – Putting off until tomorrow what can be done today is a recipe for never getting anything accomplished. Learn to recognize your procrastination triggers and find ways to work around them. Distractions – It's easy to get sidetracked when there are so many demands on our attention these days. Turn off the TV, log out of social media, and give your full focus to the task at hand. Lack of Motivation – It can be hard to
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Getting the Most Out of Data: Tips for Business Success

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  Data should always be your first consideration when planning any business goal, process or activity. Data provides the granularity and level of detail needed to ensure success. There are many ways to collect data, but automation is often the most efficient method. Automating data collection can save time and money while still providing accurate and up-to-date information. Once data has been collected, it is time to start interpreting the results. Data interpretation can be a complex process, but there are many tools and techniques available to simplify the task. Data interpretation can be used to improve business processes, make decisions, and predict future trends. One great tool I often use extensively both in my own business processes and also with our customers at Clear Simple Business is Microsoft Excel. With the use of a variety of formulas, PivotTables, and other advanced methods our team can automate even the most mundane data-collection, data collation, and data presentation
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