Our Agency Manager, Emma, shares how to streamline your business for the Virtual World:
Let’s all rewind to March 2020 when the “normal” world of commuting to the office for a 9-5 day of work came sliding to a halt. Although a good proportion of us have always wanted that (and continue to love it to this day) we were by no means prepared for it, and let’s face it, it has taken a fair amount of adjustment for us all.
Businesses have had to scale back their employee numbers, revise their office processes and software, go completely cloud based so everyone can access online, and learn how to collaborate and manage a team effectively whilst completely online. All this while employees adjusted their mindset in how they manage their workload in a new working environment; where they can sit at their laptop in their PJ’s with no one looking over their shoulder.
So, if you are still striving to virtually improve processes for your business for the Virtual World of WFH – have you implemented the following – and if not, why? You can save hours of admin time and have your team working virtually like a dream:
Use #Xero for your accounting software and #Hubdoc or #Dext to import your invoices. You can make use of the #Xero inbox, set up bank rules, connect your bank feed, turn on automatic invoice reminders and hey presto – tidy finances!
Make sure you use timesheet software, like #Harvest, to keep track of your employee’s time. Harvest is a great choice as you can integrate the app with #Xero so that your invoicing automatically posts to #Xero. Download the #Harvest app to add your time easily and efficiently whilst on the go.
We all get inundated with emails so use #Microsoft Outlook to your advantage; import bulk data with reminders to your calendar and save time on manual tedious data entry. Likewise export data to create lists of itemised client meetings for the year. Set rules to file your emails in order to keep your inbox streamlined.
Use #Microsoft Teams to collaborate with your Team via Chat, Planners and meetings. Set up channels for your Team to converse directly with your clients in a secure area, utilise virtual whiteboards to plan your meetings, and make sure you press record to analyse and minute take.
Implement a programme such as #Timetastic or #BrightHR to plan staff holiday and allow your team to easily review how much holiday they have used and have remaining. Requests can easily be raised via the app on their phones, and accepted or declined with the click of a button by the manager. TOP TIP: Utilise the brilliant HR advice both of these companies have on offer.
To manage your internal spending integrate #Pleo or #Soldo. These are pre-paid cards that your team pay expenses on, they can upload receipts directly via the app and this integrates with #Xero. No admin time collating expenses = Gamechanger.
Finally use #Loom to record all your company processes as tutorials – A guide on video rather than a clunky file housing the manual of “How to” will go down much better with your team and will actually teach them quicker.
~
If you couldn’t help but wonder if there is more insight available on savvy business insight and tips then get in touch!
