How to streamline your operations

The average U.S. office worker generates two pounds of paper each day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Ninety percent of that trash is made up of printed materials: marketing reports, project drafts, copy machine mistakes and unwanted mail. 

Regulating the flow of paper within your business is one of the quickest ways to streamline your firm’s management processes. It can lower costs and improve efficiency because you don’t have to file documents both physically and digitally.

Here are a few other ways AEC firms can streamline their management processes:

Empower Employees

The best managers make their people feel completely responsible for their own tasks. When employees believe it’s totally up to them to complete a project, they put more effort into it.

Effective delegation is another form of staff empowerment that can contribute to employee satisfaction and motivation, skill development and time management. It also frees up a manager’s time to spend on developing and building the business.

Leverage Technology

Technology can help you make office management tasks more efficient. Here are a few ideas:

• Consolidate Software — If you are using different software for accounting, order entry or inventory control, you can benefit from integrated software that doesn’t require you to enter data between systems. 

• Upgrade Your Phone — VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) can help you reduce your costs and improve your productivity as well as collaboration. You can easily add, change and move phone extensions, which will save you money and add flexibility.

• Enhance Your Website — An effective website is the gateway to your firm. It can answer the most basic questions your clients and prospects have about your services and expertise.

Adapted from the BQE Blog.

Editor's note: This is a sponsored article. All text and images were provided by the sponsor company.