The results of the Brazilian economy in 2016 and the expectation for this year 2017 is still a reduction in consumption and a contraction in the economy. This crisis is the result of several factors, but mainly, it is a reflection of the political and economic instability that has taken place in the country.
We all know that Brazil's problems are big, but we can also see the opportunity for improvements in our political and economic structure, which can influence major positive changes for Brazil in the future. Furthermore, historically in Brazil, crises have always preceded periods of great economic growth, which leads us to believe that, after this crisis, the country will resume growth and once again become one of the most promising markets in the world.
It is important to understand that, at the same time as this scenario reduces consumption, it increases competitiveness between companies, requiring them to become more efficient and productive. Thus, we have new possibilities to develop differences in relation to competitors, which will give the company an advantage in the market, in the short or medium term, with the resumption of growth.
Situations of crisis and turbulence are precisely the times when companies must seek intelligent solutions and improvements in their management. This will bring great advantages over the competition and allow for greater growth when the crisis scenario is behind us.
In this context, the key word for companies is productivity ! Improving productivity necessarily involves management , where it is not enough to just cut costs or investments, but rather seek to extract more results from where this is possible. With this point of view, we can direct attention to: processes and people . These are the pillars of good management and the factors that can contribute to increasing your company's productivity.
Streamline processes to increase productivity
Improvements in a company's processes can generate numerous benefits, such as cost reduction, time optimization, greater quality in tasks and increased customer satisfaction.
Within processes, we can insert technology as a fundamental factor. Exploring the multitude of services and tools available on the internet is the best way to optimize processes in companies, let's look at some procedures to be covered:
Map current processes and build workflows
All companies have processes, even if they are not documented. So, first, identify all of your company's processes. A good option is to organize them by different sectors and stages. And then, document the input and output information for each process, listing its final objective.
After that, it is possible to create workflows, organizing activities by those responsible and the sequence that all processes must follow between employees and sectors. In this organization, it is important to evaluate what is not important for the result and what is more relevant. Processes that do not contribute to the results may even be discarded.
Use IT services to monitor and evaluate processes
There are different methodologies and systems that can help organize your company's processes and tasks. By defining processes and their flows, it is possible to organize tasks into teams, define the sequence of activities among employees and obtain relevant information about the development of activities and results. For this, management systems such as ERPs, or task management systems such as Runrun.it or Trello .
Explore the potential of technology and the internet
Exploring IT services on the internet can greatly increase productivity among employees and the company's income as a whole. There are many alternatives, here is a small list of topics and tools available:
- Finance control: ContaAzul , Nibo , Granatum and several others
- File storage and management with Google Drive or Drop box
- Communication with customers: Zendesk , Zopim , Skype or social media
- Sales management with Pipedrive , Agendor , Salesforce and others
Flexibility and less bureaucracy
Try delegating greater responsibility to employees and increasing their autonomy in decision-making, with this tending to reduce approval steps within the company. Along with this, eliminate processes that do not contribute to the company's results and only serve to bureaucratize the flow of activities.
People
Today, a company's main asset is human capital, therefore, investing in people is fundamental and strategic. Let's look at some actions that can be developed in companies, focusing on employees:
Set goals and motivate employees
It is necessary that both the company and employees know the objectives to be achieved and where everyone wants to go. To do this, the manager must define results and productivity goals for the company, define evaluation indicators and how goals are distributed, which can be by sector, by team and even individually. It is a fundamental part that directors are involved in the process, that they know and monitor the results, as this way, employees will feel confident and seek to work together in order to achieve the results.
In conjunction with the goals, it is important to define bonuses for employees, in order to motivate them to seek the proposed results. These bonuses can be in cash, prizes, trips, courses, etc. A recent method for organizing objectives is OKR , widely used in technology companies and by Google. With the OKR, general company objectives are defined, objectives by sector and which key results will be measured to assess whether the objectives were achieved.
Education and training
Investing in the people who are part of the company is among the best investments a company can make. Therefore, managers must evaluate, together with their employees, what can be improved within the company's processes and how it can be improved, often these improvements involve the use of some new methodology or tool. This is the ideal time to invest in team training, offering courses focused on these methodologies, with the aim of training well-qualified professionals with advanced knowledge of the latest and best in their areas, so that this knowledge is incorporated and implemented in the company's activities.
Employees with good training will innovate and create processes that will improve the company's results and at the same time will have motivation to perform their activities in the best way possible.
Increase focus and eliminate wasted time
Wasting time during work is one of the main factors that compromise team productivity. To solve this problem, it is essential that each employee has a clear understanding of their duties, goals and results to be achieved. Along with this, the manager must monitor the progress of activities and the delivery of tasks, checking whether they are within the stipulated deadlines and of the appropriate quality. If the deliveries are not in agreement, the reasons must be assessed, seeking to make direct contact with the team, as it is possible that they are unproductive due to being unfocused, as they may not be aware of the importance of their delivery for the results. from the company.
Technology resources can also contribute significantly to wasted time at work, employees can use their working time to use their cell phones to chat on WhatsApp with friends, or company computers to access personal email, social networks , instant communicators, entertainment sites, games, shopping, etc. To alleviate this problem, the company must create a policy for the use of technology and internet resources , creating rules and limits in relation to what can be used and accessed, defining schedules and punishments in case of non-compliance with the rules.
Improve communication and share knowledge
Sharing knowledge and experiences between sectors and teams can significantly contribute to increasing productivity in your company. Often, employees carry out activities effectively, but do not document the processes and actions carried out. Documenting this knowledge will help others learn and improve their actions. To do this, the company can use intranet systems, discussion forums or an internal content blog.
Facilitating and encouraging communication between sectors and employees is also important, it can speed up the exchange of information and even reduce costs with documents and bureaucracy. For this, instant communication programs such as Skype . Another tool that has stood out as an option for corporate communication is Slack , as it allows the creation of channels focused on a topic or sectors of the company.
Increase productivity through management, optimizing processes and qualifying employees . This thought should inform managers' strategies during this period of economic instability and reduced consumption.
Share in the comments what your company has done to be well positioned in the market and overcome the crisis!
