Can you say with confidence that you and your teams are 100% productive?
Be honest.
If you're like most entrepreneurs, business owners, and project managers, then you know how tough it is to get things done.
Struggling with completing daily tasks ultimately leads to you cutting corners, which can result in shortcomings. For instance, poor quality work and increased operational costs.
What if we told you that these issues stem from repetitive tasks? An astonishing 90% of workers are burdened with boring, repetitive work.
But what's worse is that repetitive work isn't just sucking your brains dry – it's eating away at your bank account as well.
Just a few years ago, companies were losing a stunning $1.8 trillion (yes, with a "T") per year. If the fact your workers are bored doesn't get your attention, then maybe that will.
You can bet it's getting the attention of your competitors who are likely already using the methods we're going to talk about.
First, let's take a closer look at this mind-numbing concern and how it's hurting your business.
It's Turning Your Employees into Mindless Zombies
Repetition isn't all evil. It works for recipes, exercise, and organization. But when the tasks you're repeating aren't benefiting creativity and productivity, then it turns your employees into mindless zombies.
They're spending much of their day doing things that don't add value to your business, its customers, or your bottom line.
Leading a workplace filled with redundancy is a quick way to increase your employee turnover rate. And you can forget about maintaining high morale in the workplace.
Your Business Growth will Stall
It's impossible to grow your company if your workers aren't performing at maximum productivity levels. Your job is to enable them to do so.
If you're witnessing a ton of redundancy in your workplace, then it's time to make a change in your processes and systems.
Otherwise...
Someone's Bound to Make a Mistake
Human error is a problem anytime you have people manually performing work. Then when you tie this with the tedious nature of repetitive tasks, you have an increased chance of inaccuracies.
When you're mindlessly repeating tasks, you're not thinking about what you're doing. There's no challenge or problem-solving involved, so workers perceive it as "no-brainer" work.
Most won't even double check their work to ensure it's correct.
This is one of the reasons companies are resorting to automated processes.
Some mistakes are too costly to leave up to chance!
The Trillion Dollar Price Tag
Businesses are losing trillions of dollars, and it's all because employees are spending time on tasks that take away from your revenue.
For instance, your sales team is wasting time on non-sales tasks instead of prospecting and closing deals. One example is managing emails, which can be a waste of time (especially if they don't lead directly to sales).
Instead, you should automate all manual processes you possibly can. Not doing so can eat up your profits.
How?
One survey shows workers are spending an average of 520 hours annually in repetitive tasks that could be delegated or automated.
That translates to about a full day's work per week.
When you do the math, this turns out to be a $13,202.80 loss each year for employees earning $25.39 hourly.
And this doesn't factor in the costs associated with worker mistakes, which can cause a hike in expenses for wasted time, labor, and supplies.
Let's say for example an employee creates thousands of copies of a document with missing or inaccurate details. Their negligence just cost you more money because now you have to reprint those documents again.
It's just not smart to continue operating your business in this manner. Your workers are your biggest asset (your money maker) – or at least they should be.
So let's take a look at some ideas you can implement to counter the damage repetitive tasks are wreaking on your company.
What to Do About those Pesky Repetitive Tasks
We identified several problems in your organization – now it's time to do something about them. Many businesses (including your competitors) are already using one or more of the following methods.
Here's a quick review of what you can do to maintain a competitive edge.
Automate, Automate, Automate
Artificial intelligence isn't the future, it's the present. And businesses are adopting it left and right.
If you continue with your old processes, you're only going to run your business into the ground.
So what are some of the tasks you can automate?
Well, you're able to automate emails, invoicing, onboarding, and even interviewing. Some startups are playing with HR chatbots that pre-screen applicants.
What can you do?
You can set up an automated email campaign for prospects to help warm them up for your sales teams.
Then when it comes time to hire new talent, you can use HR chatbots to ask pre-screening questions. Those who make the cut will go through an automated onboarding process.
This may include interactive content, online video, and documents they can digitally sign. All you need is the right tools to get the job done.
One platform that can help your HR and onboarding processes is Xodo Sign. This tool allows you to upload digital and scanned documents to be signed by the recipients you email them to.
In the dashboard, you can see which documents are complete and which are still pending (waiting for signatures). It frees up your HR department to handle more pressing matters, like developing and enhancing training materials.
Delegate Tasks to Contractors and VAs
One day, AI will be able to handle the majority of the mundane tasks us humans perform. But until then, you're still going to need people to complete specific tasks.
For instance, web design, content writing, social media marketing, bookkeeping, and so on. These are tasks your employees can handle but shouldn't.
While these tasks are essential to the success of your business, you don't want to bog down your workflow with tasks you can delegate to virtual assistants (VAs).
Hiring VAs is now a common practice among small and large companies. Some corporations are even firing employees and replacing them with freelancers.
Virtual assistants extend beyond data entry, transcription, and scheduling. You can find a variety of VAs with all sorts of skills, including writing, web development, project management, and more.
Some business owners are hiring teams of VAs to free up time for their employees.
Recycle Your Projects Using Templates
There's no need to recreate the same projects over and over when you can turn the first one into a template. This will cut down on the amount of time spent working on these tasks.
For instance, if you're offering ongoing work to a client, then you should have a template for the service you're providing.
Some of the templates you should have on hand include invoices, press releases, blog posts, brochures, emails, proposals, contracts, agreements, and anything else you use over and over.
Just tweak these documents so they meet the requirements of the client and the project.
Create a Culture Focused On Productivity
Boosting the productivity of your workplace isn't a one-person effort. You have to get everyone involved, so they're all accountable for their productivity levels.
Rather than judging employee performance based on output, you should judge them on their results. An employee who does fewer tasks but yields higher ROI is a keeper.
Many businesses carry on the old concept that busy workers are the best workers. But just because your workers are hammering away at a keyboard and yapping on the phone doesn't mean they're getting anything accomplished.
You have to start running your workplace in a way that revolves around results. This results-driven ecosystem will promote your workers to operate smarter, not harder.
In the end, it'll help grow your revenue and decrease unnecessary business expenses.
What About those Tasks You Can't Automate or Delegate?
If there are manual tasks you have to perform daily because it requires being a human being and local to the office, then...
Try to make the tasks more enjoyable. These tasks are essential to your operations, but they can still be mind-numbing to perform.
Get everyone involved in taking turns handling the tasks. You can also make the workplace more relaxing and fun.
For example, you can redesign the space with bean bags and standing desks.
The idea is to help your employees de-stress and work more comfortably.
Start Eliminating Repetitive Tasks from Your Workplace
When's the last time you reviewed your business processes? If never, then it's time to have a look.
Interview your employees to see how they feel about your current processes and systems. You can learn a lot from surveys and meetings with the folks on the frontline.
They can provide insights and tips to help make improvements.
Are you thinking about automating your processes? Drop us a line in the comments about your plans to end repetitive tasks once and for all!