The New Efficiency

In the not-so-distant past, the word efficiency brought to mind thoughts of doing more in less time – a stressful task for many already stretched to their limit and beyond.  The word itself means the power to accomplish, but what are those accomplishments really worth?  In today’s business environment, the new efficiency is reevaluating tasks, systems, and “the way we’ve always done it” to find opportunities to STOP work.  That’s right – stop creating reports that are rarely reviewed.  Stop completing paperwork that is never referred to again.  Stop offering services that are seldom used. 

When reevaluating your tasks, systems, and processes, ask yourself:

• Is this activity contributing to my company’s mission?  How, and is it a significant contribution?
• What is the ROI this activity is producing?
• Does this activity add value to my clients’ experience with me and my business?
• Is this activity valued by my clients and my colleagues?  Is it still relevant in today’s economic climate?

By streamlining your processes, you create true efficiency by letting go of unnecessary tasks to free-up time for projects that make a long-term contribution to your business’ mission and purpose.  Be sure to carefully consider the worth of each task before dropping it from your to-do list, as some of those tedious reports may actually be necessary.  In the end, you’ll find yourself working with a new efficiency that produces the results you want to see – results that really matter.