Laura Scotti is the CEO of ScottiWorks Consulting.
In the pursuit of success, I believe there is not one single, more valuable or necessary trait to possess than resourcefulness. As defined by the Oxford Dictionary, resourcefulness is the “quality of being good at finding ways of doing things and solving problems.” In its simplest form, being resourceful is being an unordinary thinker.
The past few years have been challenging. Resourcefulness is a skill that has become more necessary, especially for today’s leaders. Innovative executives think outside the box. They visualize several different ways to accomplish tasks and see the bigger picture to get things done. They are often tenacious, scrappy, inventive, collaborative and driven to find a way to get what they need and want. Resourceful people and businesses approach problems with a growth mindset. And as innovative—and often persistent—individuals, resourceful people often lean on outside forces to help them find a solution. One of my clients offers an automation solution and in working with them on their marketing, I’ve seen firsthand how automation tools can be a great resource for leaders.
Automated Solutions For A More Resourceful Business Operation
As a business owner, leader or entrepreneur, you will encounter many challenges when growing your business. There are obvious ones, like managing your employees, marketing your product or service and finding new customers. And there are also less obvious challenges that can be a major hurdle to overcome and significantly affect your bottom line, like business transparency, audit risks and service responsiveness.
With the future of work changing so rapidly, enterprises are increasingly relying on automation to help them keep up with the pace and eliminate common bottlenecks, such as removing the labor-intensive task of manual processes and improving workflow efficiencies with cloud-based platforms.
Busy work versus productive work—every resourceful business leader knows the difference. The first tends to be time-consuming and inefficient—work that requires little thought or effort. The latter, productive work, produces the best results—work that is meaningful and profits the company. This is the area where automation can really shine.
In short, all businesses want to do more with less. Automating and streamlining workflows can allow companies to maximize their available resources, including their time, money and personnel. Ultimately, there are four main goals businesses want to achieve with this kind of optimization:
Increased Efficiency
Automation can reduce the manual effort required for tasks and help streamline workflows. Repetitive and time-consuming tasks can be automated, allowing employees to focus on strategic, high-value activities, leading to enhanced productivity.
Cost Savings
By eliminating a majority of the manual labor required for routine tasks, leaders can reduce labor costs, minimize errors and curtail operational expenses associated with mundane tasks. As technological advances become increasingly sophisticated, the complexity of the tasks they are able to complete also increases.
Improved Accuracy
Manual processes are prone to human error. Automation can eliminate a large portion of that risk and help ensure accuracy and consistency in tasks such as data analysis, report generation and payroll processing. It can even help ensure compliance with laws and regulations.
Scalability
The goal of any business is to grow. Manual tasks that may be easy for a company with 10 employees could become impossible for a staff of 1,000. As businesses grow, automation can help them handle higher volumes of tasks without requiring a proportional change in resources. That scalability allows companies and their leaders to adapt to changing market conditions and accommodate expansion.
Questions To Ask When Considering An Automation Solution
The number of automation resources on the market has given organizations more options than ever, and selecting the right platform can be tricky. Knowing what questions to ask helps resourceful leaders make decisions aligned with their company’s needs.
The first step is determining what options will allow you to automate workflows across multiple departments. What solutions allow you to streamline processes from customer service to IT? Employing a single automation service company-wide allows firms to work collaboratively across departments, reducing redundancy and improving productivity.
Next, which platforms will adapt and change alongside your organization? These solutions should continue growing and evolving with you, ensuring you get the most out of your investment and continue to see returns on productivity well into the future. Look for applications and services that offer technical support and updates, training and integrate their services with the legacy platforms you already have.
Last, look for companies and services that demonstrate a commitment to ongoing research and development. What tools have they developed recently? How could those solutions serve your company? Platforms that continually improve their solutions are more likely to be able to offer cutting-edge solutions to problems you may not have even considered.
Welcoming Change For Business Growth
Resourceful individuals face obstacles with optimism and determination and make the best of what they have at hand. Many are successful, others, not so much, but each impediment is a learning experience that adds skills to their repertoire that were most likely not there before. What sets these people apart from the ordinary is their ability to find a solution to increase efficiencies, primarily through technological advances in the modern workforce. They welcome change and invest in the proper systems that will pay off both in the short and long term.
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