If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you know that we are big on trying to help you get things done. We are firm believers in the power of the checklist and the benefits of using technology to grow and improve your small business. Today, we’re going to talk about how technology can improve your checklists and make you more efficient and effective. Heck, we're even considering building very basic task management into our online inventory system for small business.
Regardless of your industry, there are likely some tasks that you complete seasonally, quarterly or annually. If you follow our advice then you make a checklist to help you stay on target and to ensure that you don’t overlook any details. That’s great, but if you recreate your list each time you need to tackle these occasional tasks you’re working harder than you need to. Thanks to technology you can create your list once and then refer back to it each time the task needs to be completed. In a previous post we talked about process improvement through technology and recommended some online checklists to help you get started. If you are still looking for an online checklist review that post before moving on. Already have an online checklist that works for you? Keep reading, we have a few more tips to help you get the most out of it.
As you create a list for the first time you may find that you add items somewhat haphazardly. While that might create issues on a paper list, it’s no big deal with an electronic list. You can easily reorder items later. When you don’t have to worry about what order you write things down in you are free to let your thoughts go. Jot things down as they come to you - it’ll be easy to delete or add items as needed down the road. Once you’re relatively sure that you have all the important steps on your list it’s time to review and start grouping like tasks together. Often the most linear process isn’t the most efficient way to get things done. For example, if step one takes you to the supply room and then steps four and seven take you back there as well you might be better off getting all your needed items in one trip. You can set them aside until you need them and you won’t have to keep jumping up and running around your office. By grouping all the steps that require gathering items into one group you can complete several steps in one trip.
Once you’ve reorganized your list to maximize efficiency you are probably ready to complete your task. As you work, you may realize that you left some crucial steps off your list. You can easily add items as needed. See any steps that you were able to skip? Omit them so that you won’t get hung up on them the next time you complete this task. This will be also be helpful should you ever assign this task to another employee. That’s another benefit of an electronic list, you can easily share it with others. Most solutions offer sharing options that may allow or restrict other users from editing the list. This can prevent someone from deleting items from your list, while still allowing them to use the list to get the job done. We do roles and permissions very similar to this in our online inventory system for small business. So if you want to check out how stetting up shared and restricted resources might work check out our system. After all, it's free ya know!
Are some jobs similar? You can create one list and then highlight the specialized areas. For example, cleaning may always include seven steps but at certain times of the year there may be two or three additional steps. You can create a cleaning list with an addendum that specifies things such as “December: sweep pine needles out from under tree,” or “April: Check floor mats for excess puddles.” These tasks wouldn’t need to be completed during other months of the year but you don’t need to create a whole new cleaning list just to add them in when they are required.
This is the true benefit of technology. When utilized properly, it allows us to work smarter. To get more things done in less time. For more ideas to get the most out of technology review our technology recap.
How about a free online inventory system for small business? Yes please!
Still looking for the best online inventory system for small business? You’ve found it! Stockpile is the perfect online inventory management solution for your small business. Always be able to access inventory data anytime, from anywhere. Quickly and easily add data and track it across locations. Best of all, Stockpile is free! Now that’s technology that you can’t afford not to use. Try Stockpile today!
