Many people will say to you, work smarter not harder. I’d disagree. I think the point here is that every entrepreneur must work hard no matter what but when I say work smart, I’m talking more about ensuring that the hard work is more efficient.
I’ve spoken to a number of seasoned and new entrepreneurs that seem to battle this work smart idea because of other factors like budget, time and resources. Fair enough. But, the one thing I say to them is that like everything else in business, setting up the right tools to enable the company and the team that you’ve assembled is worth the investment of both time and money.
Through working with the various teams here at Wish Group I’ve seen a range of initiatives taken to align with our mantra of working smarter across the board. From Finance to Marketing to Human Resources, finding the right tools to take manual tasks away from valuable resources inevitably will save money at the end of day while providing more productivity overall.
So with that said, and keeping in mind the trap of wanting to do everything yesterday that entrepreneurs must avoid every day, there are some key factors I consider to ensure we continue to work hard and smart.
Time Management Is Key
Seems like a no brainer. Manage your time to ensure you get the job done efficiently. But, this is something I work on with our teams every day. With Sales for example, we have a set number of calls that are expected to be made. This allows them to plan the rest of their day and also ensure they have the time to speak to current clients. With Marketing, we set weekly schedules for communications meaning the entire team has access to content and project calendars well in advance of the deployment or launch dates. With meetings, a clear agenda takes only a minute to get through but sets the tone for the next thirty to sixty minutes to help keep everyone on track and more importantly to ensure we close with actual actionable points.
Training And Mentoring
This one is the easiest to forget about, but I would argue that it is the one thing that sets the tone for working hard and harder or working hard and smarter. The worse situation is where resources simply don’t understand how to complete a task and there is no one there to show them how. This leads to a few things. One, wasted productivity as they try and learn what they need to do on their own but fall short of expectations. Or two, eventual turn over (costing you even more time, money and frustration) because they are frustrated at not being able to perform at their jobs. Take the time and clearly set out the expectations of your teams and then, ensure that you have someone train and mentor throughout the time that they are with your organization.
Complete the Puzzle
Again, this one is something I find a lot of business owners falling prey to. Wanting to do a number of things but not really taking a step back to understand the costs and benefits behind them. In order to work smart you need to have a very clear picture of what you want. From there, build out the rational and prioritize so you have something to measure against and plan for. Finally, when you’re sharing this with your team, help them get behind it by explaining it thoroughly. In doing so, you’ll then be able to enable and motivate them to work hard to get the clearly defined job done!
Have a great week.
Frank.