I know, I know, change is scary; however, change can save you time in the long run. The biggest obstacle I hear is “We’ve always done it this way!”
One thing to consider is if there has been turnover in any of the positions that are using the data. Why does that matter? Because the process may be outdated and not even being looked at anymore.
I always ask “Why are we doing this?”, “What is the data doing for the user?”, and “Is this the real data that is needed or wanted?” Many times the data is no longer needed or the person using the data needs to do more with it once they receive it.
Sometimes we are just too close to the project to be able to see how to do it any differently or the person may not know how to improve the way it is being done.
It is also important to understand how a change in one area will affect other departments in the company.
Example of a small change and its effects within a company:
I created a short program for the shipping department to quickly compare the shipped to versus made columns showing any differences as a number and the balanced ones as a “-“ so the numbers would stand out and the shipping personal could quickly correct the problem items. This program saved shipping about 5 minutes per day. The report then went with the items to the outside processor. When the parts were returned to our receiving department the counts were almost always accurate, whereas before there were many discrepancies, saving a lot of counting time in the receiving department. The biggest savings came from our Accounts Payable (AP) department. AP saved over one hour per day on one vendor’s invoices. This vendor would bill us on average 12 pages per day with 40 items per page. Once the program went into effect the accuracy in the billing skyrocketed, saving AP time in tracking down discrepancies. The difference was from 3 to 4 errors per page to 0 to 2 errors per invoice. One hour per day translates to 260 hours per year, or 32.5 working days, or 6.5 weeks per year. WOW!!! What could you do with an additional 6.5 weeks in a year???
While change can be scary; productivity, accuracy, and profits can skyrocket. What process in your company is draining your productivity?
Think about how you will spend your extra time because you are now more productive!!!
Change = Productivity
Productivity = Profits
Are you ready to stop paying hourly wages on tasks that could either be eliminated, automated, or take minutes instead of hours? Discover where you can save time and money in your business and click here to request your free consultation – today!
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