Amazon Polly

It might surprise you how easily different areas of your business become overly complicated. Complicated processes have a tendency to slow things down and reduce efficiency. Simplifying them can provide greater clarity and make them easier to get through. If you’re not quite sure where to start, there are some areas of your business that are likely overdue for some simplification.

Hiring

Hiring has the potential to be frustrating for prospective employees as well as employers. There’s the collection of applications, sorting through applicants, conducting effective interviews, following up, making an offer, the paperwork, and the onboarding process. It can get pretty complicated pretty quickly. Make things simpler by having a clear idea of what you’re looking for in an employee and conducting the interview in a way that allows you to quickly identify whether or not a candidate is worth your time. Also consider leveraging online programs that can streamline your paperwork and onboarding process, which can help speed things along.

Communication

Keeping customer communications clear and simple is key to keeping them happy. The more complicated and difficult to understand you make things, the more frustrated they will become and the more likely they are to go somewhere else. Simplifying customer communication means taking a look at the way you say what you say and the methods you use. If you identify deficits or overly complicated processes, address them. Don’t forget to look at how fast your response time is either. If you take too long to respond because your processes are too complicated, look for ways to simplify them. Consolidating messages makes it easier to respond quicker to customers. Make sure you put plans in place to prevent messages from being overlooked as well.

Meetings

Few people actually enjoy business meetings unless it’s because it’s a break from the day to day functions of their job. Meetings have a way of getting off track and taking longer than needed, so make sure they are done in a simple, efficient manner. Identify who actually needs to be at a meeting and don’t include anyone else. Have a clear agenda, send it to attendees ahead of the meeting, and stick to it. Keep Q&A sessions short and sweet. Before you schedule a meeting, ask yourself if a meeting is really necessary or if a simple email will do the trick. This will help you keep your business meetings simpler.

As a business owner, it can be tricky to know what aspects of your business really need to be simplified. Look at your hiring processes, how you communicate with your customers, and how your meetings go. For other ideas on aspects of your business that are overly complex, consider talking to your employees. They probably have a few ideas worth your consideration.

Need a little bit of extra help leading your business to success? Try one of our coaching programs!