Doing more with less - making changes to deliver efficiencies

Organisations are on a constant treadmill to produce more and grow. One way to do this is to find ways of increasing efficiency, that is, doing more with less.

Some ideas to consider:

  • The right organisational structure and roles to meet your customer's needs
  • The right capabilities and skills to deliver
  • Engaging your employees to identify and put into practice efficient working practices

We look at each of these below with some ideas on how to review the needs of your business and plan for changes that will improve the way your business works.

The right organisational structure and roles to meet your customer's needs

Do you know what your customer needs from your business? Does the structure in place provide opportunities to learn about your customer's preferences and capture their feedback?

The marketplace is a moving target, customer needs change and an organisation flexible enough to respond to these will have the best chance of survival. Developing an organisation where the roles have flexibility to meet existing demands and future changes is key. For some organisations this might require a formal restructuring, supported by change management activities. In others, a change in focus to increased flexibility and customer responsiveness may achieve the same levels of efficiencies.

The right capabilities and skills to deliver

Keeping up with changing role demands can be difficult, particularly with market and external influences changing so rapidly. On-the-job mentoring and coaching provides employees with opportunities to stay on top of the capabilities and skills needed for them to be efficient at what they do.

Keep Training Needs Analyses up to date and provide key training opportunities that demonstrate an investment in your teams. This will help them to work better and in turn the organisation to be more efficient.

Engaging your employees to identify and put into practice efficient working practices

Employees are a valuable source of identifying and delivering efficiencies. Fostering a culture where change and improvement are the norm. This needs an understanding of the organisation's existing culture and openness to change at all levels of the business.

Transparent and two-way communications will support any change activities or projects. It sends a clear message the employees are valued and their voice will be heard.

More from our Project Management series

For support in implementing change in your organisation, please get in touch or give us a call.