Starting out as a new business is never an easy task, seeing how every odd will be against you. Your competitors will already have a strong industry reputation (stronger than you in any case), more funds and already resolved logistical issues. Even worse, most new companies are horribly understaffed and due to the uncertain amount of work you are about to encounter, adding more people to your payroll usually doesn’t seem like a good idea. This is why improving your efficiency in such a situation seems like a mission impossible. Still, it is definitely not impossible. Here are few ways in which you can improve your company’s efficiency even on a skeleton crew.
Automate your social media
In 2017 social media responses cover most of your company’s PR. This, however, means that ignoring, neglecting or overlooking a comment or an inbox question on any of these networks often comes off as neglectful. Sure, some of the more delicate issues need to be handled by a human, but there is a myriad of smaller tasks that could easily be entrusted to a reliable platform. Here, you will have a wide array of choice and it all depends on a particular function you have in mind. For example, some of these apps are there to help you juggle between several social media accounts, while others are there to help sync them with your blog.
Engage in Big Data
Even though the name can sound a bit intimidating, Big Data can indeed be handled by a skeleton crew. In fact, the main reason why so many people avoid it can be described with a funny comparison of Big Data being like teenage sex. Everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.
Still, even though you don’t need a large crew to handle this data-crunching, you do need a powerful computer setup. First of all, you need a ton of RAM memory (we are talking about 32GB or even 64GB). For the CPU, it would be optimal if you could afford Intel i7 5820k. Finally, when it comes to the choice of the right GPU, you can’t go wrong with NVidia GT 1060 or stronger.
Making Your Office Smarter
While someone may wonder in what way a self-watering flower pot can improve productivity in your office, the answer is quite obvious actually. Every one of these mundane chores (like watering plants) distracts your staff from their primary tasks. Sure, this doesn’t take more than several minutes of your time each day, but sometimes this is all that it takes for them to lose a brilliant (not to say a million-dollar) idea. Without having to worry about this, they would finally be free to completely focus on their primary tasks.
Furthermore, there are other ways in which installing smart appliances can help bring out most from your team. According to multiple surveys, the optimal office temperature for productivity enhancement is somewhere between 21°C and 23°C (69-73°F). Needless to say, installing a smart thermostat in the office, therefore, helps give your team a slight, barely noticeable, boost.
Conclusion
Sure, there are many other options in which technology can help you improve your efficiency without having to hire more people. For example, in a situation where you are facing a rapidly increased workload, you can always outsource it to someone else rather than hire new people. You could also temporarily turn to freelancers or remote workers on a performance pay, but this is probably best left as a topic for another time.
Finally, keep in mind that a lack of resources and manpower means that you won’t have a large margin of error. This is why you need to choose your battles wisely and only invest in those areas that promise to bring you the greatest ROI. Major conglomerates can hope to solve most of their problems by pouring a large amount of cash over them, while you will have to rely on your own creativity. With enough effort, both can yield similar results.
