Workplace Efficiency Small Time Savers to Help with the Big Picture - Spark Hire

Workplace Efficiency Small Time Savers to Help with the Big Picture - Spark HireDuring any given day, there are a great number of things to accomplish. From day to day tasks which keep the company cogs running smoothly, to large and small projects which will benefit the company in the long-run its difficult to pack in everything that needs attention. Time is a precious commodity in the workplace, so here are a few small ideas that might have a larger time-saving impact.Make email efficient. When you read an email, make a decision about how to deal with it right away. If it needs to be put aside, make sure the task of answering it goes onto your task list. If youre able to answer in a few lines, do so. Amanda Green writes on WomensHealth.com that it takes one minute to process the content of an email onceyouveopened it. That means, if youre having a difficult time responding to an e-mail and you come back to it five or six times throughout the day,youvelost nearly six minutes. Multip ly this by the large number of emails that you receive throughout the day, and its easy to see how this is a time waster.If you can, dont open your email. The most productive few hours of most peoples day are the first few hours after they arrive. Checking your email first thing in the morning is nearly always a recipe for distraction. If youre able, dont open your email for the first hour of the day. All the messages will still be there when you open it at 9 a.m., and if someone needs you urgently first thing in the morning, they can come find you in part or give you a phone call. If you make this a standard for yourself, youll find that this first hour might be the most productive and enjoyable you have all day.Set a standard of prompt meetings. So much time can be saved throughout the day when meetings begin and end on time, and most likely the meeting will be more productive, too. If you find you could go over the timeyouvealready allotted, have someone take down parking lot ite ms for later discussion and follow-up the meeting by scheduling another session. Require that employees be on time to meetings so that you dont spend any time explaining the first few points over again.Add an inbox. Amanda Green also suggests using your inbox as it was meant to be used. If you dont have a dedicated space for people to drop materials into, youre probably being interrupted by turning around to accept things from people. Place an inbox in an easily accessible place and dont let the movement of someone leaving something distract you. The purpose of the inbox is so that you dont have to be interrupted by a quick drop off, so you should set the standard that you wont be. You might find that you save a few minutes each day by not stopping to say Hi, and Thanks, and then needing to find your place again.Small changes can equal big efficiency improvements, not only for you as an employee, but for the company as a whole. Try some of these tips and see if they work for you.Do you think some of these small time savers could beintroducedinto your work routine? Let us know in the comments.IMAGE Courtesy of Flickr by krossbow