In an article from Bplans, Briana Morgaine suggests 10 ideas that can improve a business’ efficiency and help keep everyone running smoothly and productively.

  1. Automate whatever task you can. Morgaine writes that automating monotonous tasks will save employees time and help them more productively complete tasks that require critical thinking. She suggests automating sending out pay stubs to employees and receipts to vendors.
  2. Encourage your employees to chat face-to-face. While sending an email or text may seem like the quicker option, Morgaine writes that the opposite can be true and the frequent back and forth of email or text actually takes more time than a face-to-face conversation.
  3. Limit interruptions. Morgaine writes that scheduling all planned meetings in one day will help reduce interruptions to work and allow employees to focus and work more efficiently as a result.
  4. Hold a daily, 10-minute company meeting. Short, daily meetings that cover the basics will eat up less of the workday and keep employees up to speed, Morgaine writes.
  5. “Single-task” to get more done. Single-tasking, as opposed to multitasking, allows work to get done more quickly by preventing tasks from sitting around when they’re almost complete.
  6. Discourage “Got a minute?” meetings. Morgaine writes that very little can actually be accomplished in 1 minute, meaning these “quick” meetings can end up running on and on.She instead suggests scheduling these meetings for a certain time slot and sticking to the topic.
  7. Stick with the established process. Don’t cut corners to get it done faster, you’ll just have to go back and fix it later. If you need to change a process, Morgaine says to do it deliberately, not just because you’re running behind.
  8. Use a task management software. Morgaine writes that task management software can help everyone work together more efficiently by keeping everything in one place and allowing everyone to track a project’s progress.
  9. Promote a culture of open communication. Employees should feel comfortable voicing concerns and giving feedback on the business.
  10. Know when to stop. While it’s important to make a business efficient, Morgaine writes that not every process can or should be automated.

“It’s important to strive for efficiency, but don’t let the goal of running a more efficient business overshadow other goals,” she writes.