1. Determine if you have enough money coming in to cover all your expenses.
2. Where is most of your profit and customers coming from?
3. Determine which vendors have raised their prices so you can negotiate a better rate.  Thus control your costs.
4. Ability to create a budget so you do not spend more in an area of your business than planned for.
5. Ability to review the budget and if overspent in an area determine why and adjust for the future.
6. Create financial statements that can help you with projected sales, market trends and overall financial health of the business
7. Ability to look at your financial performance monthly, quarterly, yearly instead of just at tax time.
8. Ability to create financial statements needed for securing additional capital for expansion.
9. Reduced accountant fees.
10. Ability to delegate the bookkeeping to a professional so that you can spend more time on revenue producing activities.

When I review these items in my workshops or with clients most of this is common sense.  However, when we talk about how your bookkeeping system is not just for the IRS it is also for helping your business remain viable and sustainable they see the value of maintain accurate records.  Your past performance is an important tool in helping to determine if you are reaching your goals and objects as well as next steps.  Information is an essential part of making smart business decisions.

If you do not have a current bookkeeping system talk to your accountant about which software best suits your business’ needs.  They usually can recommend a bookkeeper to you that will work with your accountant to make sure the records are accurate and error free.  If you already have a system, see if you are using the information to its full potential in strategizing for your business.  Either way a good accounting system is a must.  For more data management articles visit www.ProductiveSynergy.biz  today.

Croll Productive Synergy has been successfully helping diverse businesses operate better, faster and cheaper than their competition throughout the Hudson Valley.  By “creating the shortest path to success”,  Ms. Croll has been able to facilitate improved workflow systems, allowing clients to save time, focus on revenue generating tasks, prioritize for maximum cash flow,  effectively delegate and, consequently,  increase profits.  To learn more visit www.crollproductivesynergy.com.

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bookkeeping · data management · faster cash flow · reducing errors · staff untilization

Certified Lean Office Specialist Cynthia Marsh-Croll

Summer is almost here and so is family vacation time.  I speak to many people who dread the preparation and aftermath of a vacation.  How do you minimize the stress of vacation?  With preparation.  Below are some tips to help your vacation be the best it can be.

• When taking the time off include the day before you leave. This gives you time to pack and complete any last minute errands.
• Tell everyone on your voicemail and email vacation message that you are back in the office a day later than you are coming back.  This allows you a catch up day before getting back to anyone.
• Have a list of supplies you will need and schedule purchasing them.  You may be able to do this in several visits to the store while purchasing your weekly household groceries and supplies.
• If you have animals make sure their needs are considered well in advance.  If you have to kennel your animals, make the appointment months in advance.  During the summer many kennels are booked. 
• Make a list of supplies for everyone in your family that they are responsible to bring.  If it is children and they are old enough, have them get the items together themselves and you review what they have set aside.  This is great for sleep away camp also.
• Make sure to get your household chores done early in the week so you are not bogged down with those and packing.
• Have a flexible itinerary for your trip and a budget so you have enough money to do the events on the itinerary.  I use envelopes and mark what they are for and put the money in them along with any coupons or pre-purchased tickets.  That way we do not run out of money before the end of the trip.
• When possible pre-purchase tickets online and bring them with you.  That saves hours of waiting in line and assures you a spot at an event or attraction.

 For those who own their own business taking a vacation can be very challenging.  I recommend that you budget to hire services to take over some of your administrative tasks while away.  This allows you to be engaged with your family and enjoy the time with those who matter most.  Now enjoy your summer and have a wonderful vacation. 

Croll Productive Synergy has been successfully helping diverse businesses create customized efficiency systems in the Hudson Valley.  By “creating the shortest path to success”,  Ms. Croll has been able to facilitate improved workflow systems, allowing clients to save time, focus on revenue generating tasks, prioritize for maximum cash flow,  effectively delegate and, consequently,  increase profits.  To learn how to operate better, faster, cheaper than your competition  visit www.crollproductivesynergy.com.

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improved productivity · increased productivity · personal productivity · reduced stress · vacation planning

As business restructures and responds to the new economic and global business arena they are making some very tough choices as to what stays and what goes.  Unfortunately, this also means staff.  What is usually left behind is a wake of overworked, stressed and burnt out employees.  This is a problem because when the job market improves they will find work elsewhere.  All that investment in those employees is now lost.  Turnover is a cost that companies cannot afford to incur.

One way to address the limited staff resources issue is cross training.  Ideally you want to create a workflow that has balanced workloads and full utilization of the staff.  Cross training within a department is easier than across departments because of skill sets and education.  Most people in a particular department will have similar skill sets.  There is where cross training can become a powerful tool for getting work done correctly and quickly. 

How do you determine what processes are going to be cross trained?  Start by mapping the different processes within the department.  Include what the process is, the tasks associated with that process, who is doing it now, what electronic tools are being used, etc.  Include all the information about how long each process takes, the lead time in between and the total process time from beginning to end.   Using sticky notes map each of these department functions on a wall or easel paper.  Map one department function under another. 

You will begin to see a pattern across the maps where there are certain tasks within the process that are similar and/or require the same skill set.  Here is a great place to start cross training.  Another bonus of doing this is the discovery of how to perform the job quicker.  This newly acquired knowledge can be shared with the group.  This was very effective when I worked at Computer Associates International many years ago.  Everyone in our department knew how to do all the “jobs” within the department.   This was crucial when we had someone out of town, on maternity leave or sick.  The work was still completed in a timely and correct manner.  How many offices do you know or work with that certain areas shut down if someone is not in the office.  That is a sure fire way to displease your customers. 

If you have an area that gets a large volume of work all at once, after cross training the staff you can spread the work out over multiple people thus getting it completed in a timely manner and without overloading one individual.  This does not mean taking the folders off of one person’s desk and then piling them on someone else’s who is already backed up.  That is not balancing workloads.  Instead, create an even distribution of work so that no one person is overloaded.  In a cross trained department all individuals including the manager are backup for each other.  When the workload is more than the person can process in the time frame that meets the customer’s needs, they can elicit help from coworkers and management. 

We are all expected to do more with less.  This is going to be a continuous challenge well into the future.  Work with your staff to see how they can help support each other and ultimately the company.  You produce a quality product or service that customers want to buy and have employees who are engaged and productive.  A win, win situation all the way around.

Croll Productive Synergy has been successfully helping diverse businesses create customized efficiency systems in the Hudson Valley.  By “creating the shortest path to success”,  Ms. Croll has been able to facilitate improved workflow systems, allowing clients to save time, focus on revenue generating tasks, prioritize for maximum cash flow,  effectively delegate and, consequently,  increase profits.  To learn more visit www.crollproductivesynergy.com.

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competitive edge · improved productivity · lean · lean office · process mapping · staff untilization

Planning is the backbone of success.  Not doing it can cost thousands of dollars, man hours and resources.  Proper planning can save you money, increase your cash flow and help fulfill your mission.  Here is a simple tool to aid in ensuring your success.

In the Lean, Six Sigma and project management circles you hear the acronym PDCA was made popular by Dr. W. Edwards Deming the father of modern quality control. This powerful tool is Plan, Do, Check, Act.  Notice the first part of this is Plan.  Planning saves money, resources, staff hours, supplies, etc.  Everything a project touches has the potential for revenue drain.  That is why having a clear cut plan is essential to any undertaking.

Plan begins with your goals.  What is the ultimate result you are striving for?  Why are you doing it?  What would the end result look like?  This may sound elementary but clear cut goals are your most powerful tool in making ongoing decisions during project implementation.  Have a powerful compass.

Now decide what action steps need to be done to make that goal a reality.  If it is a larger undertaking then break it into phases or milestones.  This is a great tool for keeping a project on target.  Determine what tasks need to happen to make this goal a reality?  What skills are needed to perform the various tasks?  What personality type fits these responsibilities?  Who best fits those criteria?  The old adage “the right person for the job” applies here.

We are ready for Do.  Which simply means implement what you just planned and assigned to the staff.  The whole purpose of planning is to have the Act phase go as smoothly as possible.  In any situation there are unforeseen obstacles but good planning minimizes these and makes addressing them easier as well as cheaper than not planning,  In fact, it can save you thousands of dollars.

Once your plan is implemented Check how you are doing.  Your metrics are now front and center.  Are you moving toward your goals?  Are you staying within budget?  Are you going to complete each phase by the milestone date?  If the answer is no to any of these ask why and if necessary five times, to get to the root cause of what is preventing your project from moving forward as planned. 

Act by resolving these challenges and then move forward with implementing your plan.  The Do, Check and Act functions will be a continuous loop until your project is complete.

In the past organizations who did little planning were able to get by in some instances.  This is no longer the case.  All organizations need to be vigilant in leveraging their resources for longevity and growth.  This will enable you to stand out from the crowd.  Whether it is a campaign, marketing initiative or just having a booth at a trade show, planning will help your organization fulfill its mission and meet projections.  Demonstrate that your organization is an industry leader through planning and meeting your goals on a consistent basis.

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competitive edge · Deming Cycle · Dr. Deming · faster cash flow · lean office · PDCA · Project Management · staff untilization

When you look at a traditional organizational chart it has silos which contain various departments and the people overseeing and working in those departments.  In today’s business climate where information is your company’s gold this can be troublesome.  Why, because the right hand may not know what the left hand is doing.  We have all experienced this while purchasing or using services.  It can be very frustrating for the end user.  Guess what, same goes for your customers or client s.

Very few people enjoy change so how would you go about addressing this issue without complete shutdown from your staff.  First you would need to have the different areas understand the overall flow of information through the company for a particular service area or family.  An example of this may be customer order fulfillment for a particular product area.  Sit the key people down and show them all in one room how they affect each other.  This alone can create an epiphany.

Discuss how they could share information more effectively.  What does each area need from the other to move forward, solve problems or troubleshoot an issue?  Find ways for the key people who are connected to a service area can communicate quickly and effectively without playing tag.  

One way to accomplish this is through work cells.  An example of a work cell would be putting all the people who are responsible for fulfilling a customer order together in a cell instead of different departments.  This allows for effective clear communication, quick response to questions and moving the information along the value stream much quicker.  What does that translate to?  Faster cash flow and the all powerful competitive edge.

You will most likely need additional training to help those in the organization who feel they have to safeguard their information for job security.  This exclusionary view must be eliminated for cellular workflow to succeed.  I would recommend having a closed session with these particular individuals to discuss their discomfort and address their fears.  Take those concerns off the table to gain cooperation.  Unfortunately, some people will not be able to adjust and may leave of their own accord.  When they are replaced or new hires come in, make sure their personality and outlook match your workflow model.  Get the right people in the door out of the gate.  These individuals  will get  “it” and contribute considerably to successful work cells.

Lastly, cross training when applicable and sensible is a great tool for problem solving, reducing waiting and keeping a balance work load.   Your goal should be to create workflow system that is quick , efficient and productive.  Cross training can help accomplish this.   Obviously there are times this is not possible but for basic administrative tasks this can be very useful.

Team work is one of the effective ways to increase your organization’s capacity and cash flow.  Create your powerhouse Lean team.

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faster cash flow · improved productivity · lean · lean office · staff untilization · Work Cells

Back in 1997 the chess supercomputer Deep Blue beat world champion Garry Kasparov at chess.   This was “proof” machines are superior to humans.  Not so fast, when Kasparov did some experimenting he discovered the following:

“Kasparov writes that in competitions allowing any combination of people and computers, “The teams of human plus machine dominated even the strongest computers. The chess machine Hydra, which is a chess-specific supercomputer like Deep Blue, was no match for a strong human player using a relatively weak laptop. Human strategic guidance combined with the tactical acuity of a computer was overwhelming.”

This is incredibly good news, isn’t it? It suggests when we talk about the inimitable spark of human creativity and intuition we’re not just patting ourselves on the back, even in rational domains like chess. In this arena, a thoughtful human expert and a well-designed technology has proved to be a powerful combination. Kasparov says it well: when playing with the assistance of computers, “we [people] could concentrate on strategic planning instead of spending so much time on calculations. Human creativity was even more paramount under these condition’s.” (yeah!)” – “Did Garry Kasparov Stumble Into a New Business Process Model? By Andrew McAfee

This leads me to my discussions about how to look at your workflow.  What mapping tool you use is not as important as getting the right information on the map and the essential people in the room to help create it.  The perfect combination of tools and human creativity will wield an enlightening discovery.

Whenever an organization is trying to streamline or improve workflow you should always have the end in mind.  This means focusing on fulfilling the customer demand as your goal for a process.  The following needs to be taken into consideration when looking at your current operations.

• What is the mission and vision of your organization?
• Do your processes support that mission?
• What are the goals of a particular service family or area?
• Is a service area or department living up to those goals?
• Are the goals achievable?
• If not, why?
• Bring all of the people in who are touched by or involved in the process.  The experts on a process are the ones who do it every day.
• Map that particular area and find out where you have bottlenecks.
• Examine the information flow for mistakes, redundancy and waiting.
• Do the simple changes first that do not involve new technology.
• Address the low hanging fruit and fix immediately.
• Changing technology systems should be your very last consideration.  It is usually costly and not always necessary to fix a problem.

Tap into the creativity and talent of your staff and management.  They are your most valuable resource.  The computers, software and equipment alone do not keep your business booming it is the staff utilizing those tools that make it all happen.  This can give you a competitive edge and start you on the road to becoming an industry leader and Lean Enterprise.

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Automation · competitive edge · lean · lean office · process mapping · reducing errors · staff untilization · Value Stream Mapping