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Tips and Tools for Improving Productivity

Starting the day on Wednesday, April 5, 3MediaWeb, a Web Development company based in Hudson, MA, gave a very informative presentation on the processes needed to help grow a business and make it more successful.

Marc Avila and partner Lysa Miller spoke of the importance of documenting as much as you can. We have all heard it at one time or another in our lives, but it turns out that organization really is the key to running a successful business.  

In order to do this, business owners must develop processes to oversee all of their tasks. The implementation of such processes within a business is necessary because you cannot increase time, and so you must increase productivity.

Organizing isn’t always the most fun part of a business, but think of it as brushing your teeth: when you are rushing, it seems to get in the way, but it’s essential in keeping a healthy appearance. Once we accept that hard work needs to happen in the beginning to allow things to be greater later on, then we will have an easier time beginning the documentation process. A key point driven home by both Marc and Lysa was to take the time to build your business the right way and not to rush when you become lost in the moment.

During the presentation it was very helpful to see step by step how to incorporate documentation processes within a company. First, you must consider sharing abilities. Everything you are documenting should be available to your employees. Some great tools for this are DropBox and GoogleDrive.

Below are some other helpful tools that can assist with a variety of management tasks:

  • Boomerang: sets emails
  • Xero: is an alternative to quickbooks
  • Quote Roller: helps make creating customer quotes simple
  • Hipchat: can be used internally for employee communication

Here is a step by step guide to help begin the task of organization and documentation:

Step 1: Decide what needs to be documented (that’s anything explained more than once and day to day basic roles)

Step 2: Choose tools to help.  Top pick is Google Docs. Tools should be accessible to everyone. Examples: (Snagit, Camtasia, Trello, and Asana) These tools manage everything for free

Step 3: Start documenting (Create lists all day, both what you want and don’t want. Do not be afraid to delegate)

Step 4: Implementation of processes

  •     Review documentations
  •     Share with team
  •     Standardize everything to build growth
  •     Don’t forget that word of mouth matters because usually this is where initial growth     comes from  

Afterwards, take a step back and make sure that you weren’t creating processes just for the sake of having processes. It’s important to have a point.

Also use your resources whether that’s from clients or employees. Talk to them, have meetings, and accept all kinds of feedback. This will facilitate growth.

The final pieces of advice from Marc and Lysa really stuck with their audience.

  1. Follow ALL competitors, keep informed and READ.
  2. Always  be improving. In the tech world change is constant. Huge transitions happen everyday and companies must be able to adapt to continue to grow, and stay relevant within the market.

NewCo Boston is one of four signature industry-wide events MassTLC hosts throughout the year – the others include: Boston/TechJam in June, the Mass Technology Leadership Awards in September, and TRANSFORM in November. Check out our events calendar for details upcoming MassTLC events.

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