Who doesn't want to be on the beach sipping on a cocktail while alerts are steady coming through?
But would your business still be operational if you travelled for two weeks? Do you find yourself constantly having to do ALL the work while your staff stand by and watch? Are you tired of repeating the same thing over and over again…then these tips are just for you!
Hire well - It may seem expensive but hiring the right people for the right roles and testing for character as well as competency is super important to running an efficient business. If you can't afford to hire highly qualified staff, then be prepared to instil a culture of continuous training to ensure your staff are capable enough to execute allocated tasks. Also don’t be afraid to pull the plug when you find you have hired the wrong staff. You’ll be doing both them and your business a favour in the long run.
Open the channels of communication - keeping everything you do to yourself, is a sure fine way to create a dependency on you. If Madam has to be the one to perform almost every task or the only one that holds all the information, then you can kiss any ambitions you have of taking time off while your business operates efficiently, goodbye.
Document Everything - write down every process you and your staff perform in the company, even simple mundane tasks i.e. how many times the office is cleaned, how to clean the office, how to answer phones or receive customers. This way there is a process that must be followed every day even if you aren’t present. It is also a great way to train new staff and ensure that knowledge isn't warehoused with only a few staff.
Embrace technology -
there are several technological tools that help organizations operate efficiently and don’t require the CEO’s physical presence to get things done.
WhatsApp, Slack, Evernote and Trello are excellent tools for assigning tasks to teams and individuals and also allow for project management whether near or far.
How are you managing to keep your business operating efficiently when you aren’t there?
