As portrayed in popular media; TV shows, movies, etc. efficiency experts are inherently evil. When they appear on screen they should be accompanied by sinister music as heads are about to roll and people are about to lose their jobs. It’s no wonder people associate negative feelings with efficiency experts. In reality, an efficiency expert’s goal is to provide a positive impact for your business. They are in effect, improvement gurus focused on helping your business reach it’s goals.
If you’ve read our previous posts on process improvement and process mapping you are well on your way to becoming an efficiency expert in your own right. Best of all, you’re not likely to recommend outsourcing your own job, so at least your position is safe. Seriously, there are numerous benefits to being your own efficiency expert.
Efficiency experts can be expensive. Save money by doing the job yourself.
Who knows your small business better than you do? It takes time to bring an outsider up to speed. Since you are already acquainted with the challenges your business faces you are able to get started on solutions that much quicker. Yes, process mapping and brainstorming will take time, but any efficiency expert would have to complete those steps as well so you will still come out ahead.
The human factor. Since you do know the ins and outs of your business and employees you will be able to make more informed decisions. There may be mitigating factors that make the on-paper best solution not the real world answer to improving your efficiency. No one is better qualified to make that determination than you.
Improved ease of implementation. Just as you would have needed to bring an outside efficiency expert up to speed, they would need to share their findings and recommendations with you. In some cases, they might even need to convince you that their suggestions are the best fit solution. When you come up with your own recommendations, you are already onboard. It will be that much easier to lead by example and assist coworkers with adapting to the changes as well.
If we are honest with ourselves, we all know that there are areas in both our personal and professional lives where we could make improvements. By making even incremental changes we could save time, money or both. It’s far too easy to find excuses for not identifying and implementing these improvements. It will take too long. Making changes might cost too much. We’ve been doing it this way for so long that it will just be too hard to change. The truth is that making your business more efficient will have a positive impact on your small business. After the changes are successfully implemented you will save time and money on a daily basis. Improving your current processes may even allow you to grow your business in new directions. There is no reason to wait. Visit our previous posts on process mapping and start finding ways to make your small business more efficient today!
