How Small Firms Can Streamline Their Processes

There are numerous ways small and medium sized firms can streamline their management processes, though sometimes it can be hard to decide where to begin, so here are a few tips that will help you get started.

Reduce Paper

If you want to streamline your management process quickly, regulate the flow of paper in your company. Using paper means you have to physically file it again separately as well as digitally which adds up to twice the work.

Many people thought the advent of the Internet and email would have cut down the use of paper, but it ironically has increased manifold. More paper is being used in offices now than before the Internet existed. The fact is that paperwork can pile up quickly and slow down your work. Reducing the use of paper can cut down costs and improve your efficiency. And obviously, it's better for the environment.

The introduction of cloud computing technologies like Dropbox, Skydrive, and Google Drive has helped many companies eliminate the use of paper completely.

Empower Employees

The best managers make their employees feel completely responsible for their tasks. When the employee feels that it's totally up to them to make sure the work is done well, they pour more effort into the task and you get a better result.

Delegation is also a form of empowerment. When you have empowered your staff, it can also lead to employee satisfaction and motivation, lowering of stress, skill development, improved time management, as well as higher customer responsiveness. Your time is also freed up and you can now spend more time developing your business.

Take Advantage of Technology

Technology can help you streamline some office management tasks by making them more efficient. There are many ways you can do this. Here are a few areas that you can streamline with technology.

• Consolidate Software

If you are using different software for accounting, order entry, or inventory control, you can certainly benefit from integrated software. When you start using such software, you also eliminate the need to enter data between systems. Thankfully, there are many software packages in the market that will fulfill this need, including BQE's offerings.

• Phone

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) can help you reduce your costs and improve your productivity as well as collaboration. You can add, change, and move phone extensions which will save you tons of money and add flexibility.

• Set Up a Website

Your company's website can answer the most basic questions your clients have about your company. When they find the information they want on your website, they will not call you and it will also be less frustrating for them. Setting up a website is easy and there are many companies that offer cheap web hosting. A good and useful website is the gateway to your company.

About the Author: Mark Khurshid, our Vice President of Training and Consulting, improves our products and works with users one-on-one to make sure they're learning how to get the most out of their software. His familiarity with all our products is rivaled by few, and when we can get a blog out of him, we leap at the opportunity.