Efficiency has been a business buzzword for more than 100 years, dating back to the early time-and-motion studies of the 1920s. What began as a one-off experiment to discover ways to make assembly line tasks more streamlined later became an entire cottage industry of experts, apps, programs, philosophies, and management systems. Efficiency became the central focus of college business training as early as the 1960s.
Today, managers and owners have plenty of effective ways to measure and create efficient ways of doing things. This can also help adapt to a flat hierarchy, an emerging management trend. In e-commerce, entrepreneurs use sophisticated computer programs to run as many as a dozen businesses at once. In the transport sector, fleet management tools include advanced applications that help drivers maintain electronic work logs.
Real estate professionals are among the most productive individuals in modern times, as they juggle multiple jobs simultaneously to deliver their services to a public that often has no idea how frenetic their behind-the-scenes operations are. Here’s how three different kinds of workers and industries achieve high levels of efficiency.
E-Commerce
Many e-commerce sellers work from their homes in one-person entities. For these busy individuals, it’s vital to make the most out of every hour of the day in order to achieve acceptable levels of income. A large number of e-commerce owners have no other jobs and have devoted themselves to succeeding as independent purveyors of goods and services in a 100% online setting. How do they do it?
For most, it’s about optimizing computer systems, leveraging the power of numerous apps, and focusing on pay-per-click advertising to bring in a constant flow of new customers. Another tactic that boosts the bottom line is outsourcing tasks like tax preparation, IT checkups, and customer service.
Vehicle Fleets
Fleet managers are responsible for multiple layers of daily operations within a typical transportation firm. They must follow strict guidelines to make sure drivers use electronic logging devices (ELDs). That’s the only way to adhere to laws that govern the number of hours drivers can work and make sure all the data is tracked in real-time.
When it comes to running an efficient truck-based enterprise, management team members use ELDs to make operations run more smoothly on every route, even during the busiest hours of the day. By utilizing tachograph solutions, you can have an all-in-one compliance platform that can contribute to a more profitable business as well as meet rigid compliance regulations.
Real Estate
The real estate industry has changed a lot in the past decade. Agents now use fine-tuned websites as their operational headquarters for generating new clients. Efficiency is the name of the game as busy real estate pros multi-task from dawn to dusk. One of the hallmarks of the sector has been long hours and weekend work. It’s a fact of modern life that people typically view homes in the evenings and on their days off.
Real estate agents boost their efficiency by leveraging the power of social media, dozens of contact apps, and state-of-the-art smartphones, the latter being the number one tool of the trade for property sellers in the 2020s. They also develop strategies to remain professional when all those non-traditional work hours catch up to them and they need a step back but don’t want to sour relationships.