Many business owners get overwhelmed as managing all facets of a company and trying to stay on top of everything can be incredibly stressful. Effectively managing the operations of a business is constantly changing in the modern world. Luckily, today’s technology allows businesses to minimise the time spent on certain tasks using tech tools and programs to help simplify and automate processes.
Nowadays, small-business owners have access to a vast range of technology, which used to only be available to large corporate organisations at a huge cost. There is a lot less time being wasted doing repetitive manual tasks, all thanks to technology. And isn’t it every business owners dream to successfully run and oversee their company without always having to be present? A dream that is very achievable. Tools to track, measure and automate are no longer unaffordable custom-made software that only big corporates can obtain, they’re readily available to every small-business owner.
To expand your reach and have a bigger impact, small-business owners need to leverage automation tools available in this day and age. Learn how to let tech tools work for you, so you have more time to focus on higher level tasks. Here are some of his favourite tools to maximise productivity:
Slack
Slack is used for internal communication within a team and is highly beneficial for avoiding confusing long email streams. At Basic Bananas Slack is used to communicate via different channels to report on weekly key metrics, discuss the progress on branding projects and share our daily focus so we know who is working on what.
Wunderlist
This tool allows users to organise tasks in a way which increases productivity and dodges overwhelming pressure. Some of the team members at the company highlight five to six tasks they wish to work on per day to secure complete focus. It can significantly reduce worker stress over a never-ending workload. Let’s face it, your ‘to-do’ list will be constant as your business grows, it will even get longer! This will help enforce making daily priorities a tangible goal.
Trello
This tool organises and prioritises projects in an incredibly visual way. It is set up with a large pin board that displays multiple lists and cards. It is also my favourite tool to map out my days, weeks and even the next quarter. Every team member at the company occupies a list on the Trello board and each project is summarised as a checklist on a card.
Google Sites
Google Sites is a web page creation tool that is a part of the free Google apps suite. The functionality is multi-purpose, but it is especially useful for building an operations manual to systemise processes and increase productivity. In the company, we have a rule: If a task is done more than twice it is recorded step by step as a video, written or both then its put in the operations manual. As the business keeps growing we need to make sure that we have all our processes in place to ensure tasks get done consistently and also to give us the opportunity to simplify and improve on everything. The operations manual also serves as a great training tool for on boarding team members and saves having to explain a process more than once.
Christo Hall, Co-Founder, Basic Bananas
