Should Fortune 500 companies only employ the services of consultants to improve business management? Of course not! Every private firm needs to heed the advice of consultants to ensure that the leadership is leading and the staffers are following directives from their superiors. Let’s face it: the neoteric workplace has changed. Thanks to the influx of millennials – and soon to be the invasion of Generation Z professionals – the practices of yesterday don’t match today. In other words, it’s time to throw out everything you know and incorporate new standards.
Business management consulting continues to evolve, and requires you and your team to manage your time, resources and energy efficiently and effectively. By doing this, you will enhance productivity levels, improve workplace morale and ensure the business is making money.
Here are five business management tips from everyday consultants:
1. A To-Do List is Still Helpful
Many people may think the good old-fashioned to-do list is antiquated and ineffective. Sad!
The to-do list is likely the greatest complement to your workload, even in today’s digital environment. There are many variations to the to-do list so it is up to you as to how you will produce it at the beginning of your workday.
Here are a few tricks that you can employ, and encourage your staffers to use as well:
- At the start or end of your shift, write down what needs to be done.
- Accomplish the three biggest tasks before lunch.
- Tackle similar projects at the same time – repetition is success.
- Check off every task that is completed, and write down when it happened.
Whether you’re in management or you’re in entry-level work, the to-do list is essential.
2. Understand the Wants & Needs of Staff
The turnover rate in today’s environment is high, and this isn’t good for any office.
Want to avoid this from occurring? It’s simple: understand what your staff wants and needs.
This can be difficult information to obtain, but it doesn’t have to be. In other words, have a sit down talk with your staff – either one at a time or in a group session – and brainstorm of what needs to be done, what should be done and what will be done.
If you incorporate a collaborative effort into your business management routine, then you can entirely avoid having a high turnover rates.
3. Quality vs. Quantity: The War Continues
Here is an age-old question for workforces everywhere: do you want to finish everything ahead of schedule or do you want to meet deadlines at the last minute with quality work?
Suffice to say, you should likely want the latter as opposed to the former.
Moreover, having your personnel concentrate on value over everything else can reduce the strain, tensions and stress that are sometimes placed on their shoulders. By encouraging quality over quantity, you’re further permitting your employees to apply their skills rather than churning out useless and poor work.
4. Hire the Right Workers
One of the biggest difficulties for human resources is hiring the right workers, especially under today’s conditions. Yes, not all millennial professionals are whining, demanding and uncouth, but many of them are. And this is the hard part: differentiating the good and the bad. A key component of business management is knowing how and who to hire. Indeed, first impressions matter, and anyone adept at their work can immediately determine if a particular candidate is right for the job or should be passed over for somebody else.
Not dressed for the job? On their phones in interviews? Late for an appointment? Bringing their parents for a meeting? There’s a multitude of factors to hiring and dismissing applicants.
5. Adapt to the Modern Workforce
Finally, and this is key, business management requires adapting to the modern workforce. That’s right. The workforce has changed in just the last 20 years alone. No longer are millennial workers out for a paycheque, a pension and a gold watch.
They, according to a wide array of studies, want meaning to their career, a work-life balance and coddling by management (constant feedback and praise for their work). Oh, and they want to be on their smartphones while working. Business management consultants will warn you about this office evolution from the very beginning. It is up to you to adapt…or perish.
Business management consultants may get a bad reputation from the professional cynics, but they can offer your firm a tremendous amount of value, whether you’re an SME or a large corporation. They may know what’s needed for your company and they may know what you’re doing wrong. You hired them, and now the ball is in your court to adhere to their wisdom.
