When it comes to business, time is money. That means you want your entire team working as efficiently as possible. Less time is wasted and more deals can be closed when the team is efficient. Habits and routines play a major role in the way a day in the office goes. A few simple changes can help you and your employees work more efficiently. Try adding the following:

Start with goals

It’s impossible to know if your team is achieving goals if you don’t have any. This is a multi-step process that you need to work through in order to become more efficient in this area. It starts at the top. Upper management needs to come together to establish the goals for the company as a whole. Once this has been accomplished the process needs to filter down. Each department and team member needs to know what the goals are so they know what they need to achieve in order to do their part to reach the larger goal.

Touch base often

Everyone will work more efficiently when clear goals are set because they know exactly where their efforts are supposed to go. You need to create regular times for team members to check in with each other to keep the momentum rolling. Have a weekly meeting with the sales team, where they share their successes and struggles from the week. They can ask for additional resources if they need or find someone to collaborate with. However, keep these meetings short in order to keep efficiency high. Meetings are one of the biggest killers of productivity when done incorrectly.

Begin with a plan in place

Spend the first few minutes of the workday looking over your daily plan. The plan is one that was created at the end of the previous day. By doing this you do not forget about any important tasks that need to be completed.  The next day you can come right into the office and start working on the specific items that need your attention. If everyone in the office operates in this manner it will help your entire team be more efficient.

Track successes with each other

Create the habit of celebrating wins together. This will foster a positive environment within your office. Establish a routine that the team is to follow when they experience a success. It could be a great prospect they secured information for, a deal they closed, or a feel-good story they heard about from an existing client. Have a system in place for how the successes should be shared and celebrated. Happy workers are more efficient workers and everyone loves to have their work acknowledged.

Spend a week tracking time

It might seem like a waste of time to have each person track their time, but it will pay off in the end. If everyone tracks the time they spend on each task for a week they will begin to see areas that they can become more efficient in. This could include reducing the amount of time they check and respond to their email to only a few times a day, or adding an extra printer to keep people from needing to walk as far. Every time you interrupt your workflow it takes time to get back into it.

Start the day with a 5-minute meeting

Start the day with a 5-minute meeting. If you pull your entire staff together at the start of the day you can accomplish a few things:

• It allows you to see who is showing up on time.
• You can get a quick status update on the big deals.
• Share a motivational quote or sales tip.
• Employees will show up early so they aren’t late and they will spend those few minutes catching up. They can then get right to work when the meeting is finished.
• Find out who needs additional resources to close a deal.

In the end, the two things that will help improve employee efficiency the most include keeping employee morale high and having the right processes in place. There are small changes you can make overnight, but it takes time to see significant changes. Stick with the process, include your staff by asking for ideas, and you will see your employees being more efficient on a daily basis.