Business

Rethinking How You Work To Better Manage Your Workload

By Christy Bella | July 16, 2020

Table of Contents

Strategies for Managing Workload

There’s no doubt that COVID 19 brought many changes for everyone, both in personal and professional environments.

Now, as the majority of UK businesses look to return to work – or have already started trickling back to the office – many are faced with the question – how do I work smarter, not harder? Or better yet, how do I make my workload work for me?

Time out from work and the constant overflowing to-do list that comes with running or working for small business marketing activity has pushed many to reevaluate what they want from their work. Interestingly, when it comes to morale and motivating employees, new innovations and thoughts in this area could lead to major changes in the way we do business. These are some practical tips that are designed to help you re-design what your working day looks like.

Apps That Organise

Of course, there is an app for everything. But when it comes to running your business and your working life these specifically designed tools could make every bit of difference for how much you can get done in a day.

When we say there’s an app to streamline the work in every industry, there is; from preschool software to arborists to hair salons

A hot tip for finding an app that really serves your business and makes a difference in your day-to-day life is to find an industry-specific platform. This would have already been designed to support the work you do, with specialist features and functionalities that address the most time-consuming and most important aspects of your job.

For example, preschool management software will have a learning journal template or platform, attendance tracking, risk assessment reports, and staff management features that line up with government guidelines.

The other top tip for finding apps that help you work smarter is to ensure that the features integrate with one another. From a management perspective, this means that you could save hours marrying paperwork together by streamlining data in one centralized platform.

Adopt Remote Working For The Long Term (If It Works For You)

Studies show that employees are willing to put in up to five more hours a week when they are working from home. Moreover, in another study reported by Forbes magazine, 95% of workers reported that they feel more productive when they work from home or a place of their choice rather than the office.

The list of studies that have shown the same statistics is actually longer – and more distinguished – than you might expect.

If you are running a small business and have evaluated that you are able to offer your employees (and yourself) some WFH time, it’s likely to actually improve your efficiency and output for that day. However, to make sure this is organized and lucrative for everyone, establish a routine with your team. For example:

Schedule morning meetings or check-ins. Ideally, this should be at a time that staff have been able to evaluate their to-do list and can raise any questions or concerns that may interfere with their work for the day.
Establish how you can be contacted. Many have chosen to use tools like Slack for professional organizations as you can store conversations by project or subject.
Decide whether you want your team to structure their day themselves or follow a 9 – 5 (with prescribed lunchtime) day.

Recognizing and implementing these tips will ensure that your team is good to go for the day, but also that you schedule a time to answer questions, ultimately minimizing the number of WhatsApp messages you have to respond to throughout the day.

Flexible Workers Available For Flexible Hours

You don’t have to be a hero and do it all yourself.

If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that work and careers are not the most important thing in the world. What’s more, employing a small business or collaborating with a freelancer during this time could really make a huge difference and help put the economy back on its feet.

For you, it could mean allowing you to focus on more important things in the business – like development and bringing new products or services out – or simply allow you to relax a little bit more. Spreading the workload by taking on a new freelancer, team member, or partnering with an agency can be incredibly flexible, thanks to the internet and apps.

These are a list of the best places to find teams or individuals for all kinds of work:

Fiverr
Sidekicker
Upwork
Pro Finder by LinkedIn
Industry-specific platforms with job listings or options for postings

Takeaways

It is possible to scale up your business whilst winding down on your workload if that’s what you want to achieve. The most important thing to consider is what you actually want to be doing and eliminate, Passover, or delegate the rest.

We understand that delegation and looking for new hires might not be an option for all small businesses at the minute, which is why we have recommended utilizing technology to grow and manage workloads efficiently and effectively.