We have all heard that famous old saying: “work smarter, not harder”, but, how do we go about doing it?
Is it just one of those motivational quotes you see featured on social media, something that is said to inspire, but seconds after scrolling past is forgotten about or is there more to it?
If you look back at history, you will find we have come a long way, even in the last 200 years, humanity has made some technological advancements that are truly astonishing. December 17th, 1903 saw the Wright Brothers make the first powered flight and with that, the aeroplane was born. In years to come, people could start travelling abroad, reaching other parts of the world much quicker than ever before. July 20th, 1969: “One giant leap for mankind”. It took just 66 years from the first powered flight to a man walking on the moon. No one can deny this was an amazing achievement, but what does this have to do with “work harder, not smarter?”
As technology has advanced, our lives have become much easier and more efficient. So, what does this mean for organisations? How can we adapt new advancing technologies to streamline operations?
Organisations have also come a long way in the last 200 years, this is clear to see when looking into the industrial revolution. From steam power to production lines, automation and currently cyber-physical systems, the internet of things and networks. But how can organisations embrace the “work smarter, not harder” mentality?
Now more than ever, organisations need to streamline and automate as much as they can. By doing this, businesses can improve efficiency and increase productivity levels while realising real cost savings. All this can be achieved while importantly improving the overall customer experience, which today is a priority for us all.
By incorporating a “work smarter, not harder” mindset, organisations can analyse each task within the business and work out ways to streamline and automate those tasks through new technologies resulting in each task, within each process becoming more efficient.
For example, organisations that operate using paper and/or spread-based systems to power their processes will experience the drawbacks associated with them, such as loss of data, duplicated data, labour-intensive tasks, human error and in some instances a poor customer experience. A perfect example of an organisation that offers an excellent customer experience using an automated system is Amazon. When you order something from Amazon, your order is trackable through the various stages of the process, from ordering, processing, dispatch, out for delivery and finally delivered. The customer has full visibility over their order through Amazon’s automated system. The customer can also choose various delivery options of where to leave the order for example in the shed, with a neighbour or in the garage, that information is then automatically sent to the delivery driver.
Organisations should embrace new technologies to become more adaptable and flexible in a fast-paced ever-changing environment. To achieve a “work smarter, not harder” mentality, you must be open to change. As the world changes, which it does more rapidly than ever, you need to be ready to change and adapt almost instantly.
By embracing new technologies, organisations will not only increase flexibility, productivity, and the ability to offer customers a much better customer experience but also gain the ability to adapt to major changes and challenges that may come along with no notice. Organisations that can do so will survive and thrive and operate smoothly like a well-oiled machine. Organisations that continue to work harder and not smarter and don’t adapt will struggle and find themselves being left behind.
So, to “work smarter, not harder” an organisation must first be open to change, letting go of the old mentality of “that’s how it’s always been done” to “how can we do this more efficiently”. Be open to implementing new technologies, these new technologies will help automate processes that previously were time-consuming and inefficient, and will result in increased performance, flexibility, and the ability to adapt to new landscapes and challenges.
Excelpoint’s no-code smarter software enables organisations to implement a software system designed to streamline and automate end-to-end business processes and integrate existing systems to gain efficiencies across an organisation. It enables organisations to work smarter, contributing to growth, productivity, efficiencies, cost savings and an enhanced customer experience.
For more information or advice on how Excelpoint’s smarter software solutions can enable your organisation to work smarter, please contact us – hello@excelpoint.co.uk | 01325 375930
