A McKinsey study revealed that 79% of all companies have cut operational costs to respond to the global economic crisis. Although cost-cutting is sensible, data from PwC suggested that less than 30% of cost-cutting companies reach their goals and less than a fifth of them are able to generate consistent revenue. This underscores the importance of operational efficiency and optimal operational strategies.
Improving operations involves a combined effort that optimizes processes, people, and technology. An article on Forecast offers insights for you to improve operations by balancing the necessary elements and phasing in several key measures:
1. Processes refinement
As processes are the heart of operations, a deep dive into how work is organized and understanding what drives the daily operations is critical. You must be wary of repetitive non-billable work and lack of structure as they impede successful operations.
2. Repeatable work automation
In professional service, almost every repeatable core business can be automated, such as quotes, invoice, proposal development, financial reporting, inter alia. It is vital to prevent ad nauseam from an ad infinitum of repetitive work that can immobilize your teams, increase human error, and prevent workers from excelling at what they are skilled at. When you weed out the work-intensive process and reduce extraneous data entry, your team can apply work efficacy.
3. Supporting people
Formulate methodologies that work to eliminate administrative load; this prevents the loss of much valued time. People are the biggest asset of any organization, so it is crucial that you manage your employees wisely and transparently while facilitating cross-departmental collaboration. Make sure no one is overloaded with work to prevent employee burnout.
4. Leveraging technology
Technology offloads the load of administrative work from your teams’ shoulders. It also measures operational efficiency and removes barriers in the data flows and analysis.
Although there are no sure-fire ways to turn a company into a hive of efficiency overnight, consistently optimizing operations at all process levels will take a business up notches.
To help you scale up operations efficiency, eCornell’s Operations Management program will be ideal. Enroll today and benefit from the Ivy League-level education.
eCornell courses are approved by SkillsFuture Singapore for SkillsFuture Credit as well as by HRDF Malaysia under its SBL Scheme.