Do you feel like you’re working around the clock in your business?
It’s little secret that the business world rarely sleeps. Business is no longer limited to its immediate geographical area – we now collaborate and compete with people and companies from all over the world on a daily basis.
Therefore, time differences no longer mean what they used to, and businesses are meant to work around the clock as much as possible. It is a sad reality, but those companies who clock in at 9 and leave at 5 will simply end up falling behind in the 21st-century business climate.
Of course, it doesn’t mean that you need to literally be doing business for twenty hours a day – that would be no way to live, and you would struggle to find the staff to do that with you anyway. But missing business opportunities because you were not available to take the call can end up having a real impact on your figures and therefore, your company results.
Here are a few ways in which you can change your business so that it works (almost) around the clock, putting you miles ahead of your competitors in the process.
Outsource from abroad
We all need sleep – that’s just a fact, and no one would expect you or your team to stay up all night working just in case you miss a client. But a backlog of emails and calls can be pretty difficult to deal with every morning, which is why having overnight staff in another time zone can often be useful.
Even if it’s literally just a few people to answer any calls or be active on your live website chat, you can go to bed knowing that your business is still making money even when you’re not there.
Running an ‘open office’
This depends entirely on how much you trust your staff – but if you have a big project on and staff need to work late, you need to be able to give them that option. Of course, as the boss, you may not always be around to let people in and out of the office building.
Consider giving them swipe cards or codes so they can get in and out of the building to continue working even when you’re not around.
It’s also your responsibility to make the working environment safe for them at these peculiar times, so click here to find out more about lighting options for your company car park, in case people are leaving the office late at night.
Providing facilities
If you like the sound of an ‘open office,’ you will also need to be willing to provide certain facilities in order to make it a workable thing.
Even if you clock off at five, that doesn’t mean every else will – so make sure you have stocked up on all the basics like tea and coffee to keep people going, and you could even look into office sleep areas like the ones at Google.
It can also be worth speaking to your staff about when they feel they are most productive during the day and adjusting your office hours to reflect this.
