Are you Efficient?
Here are a few thoughts to consider.
A 20-40 Minute Efficiency Rule: If you were to time study drive times, you would find that up to 20 minutes of staff time is the most effective in the use of the staff person to float or go to appointments. After 20 minutes up to 40 minutes the effectiveness and efficiency of the staff person’s time drops dramatically. After 40 minutes you’re wasting money. While cell phone use has improved staff efficiency, it has also increased the number of accidents and increased your organization’s exposure to lawsuits if they are involved in an accident.
A Transaction Efficiency Rule: Repetition.
Organizations under $2.5 million rarely achieve this efficiency since the individuals have to function with many diverse duties. There is usually not enough transactions in any one area of expertise to be most productive in that function. Being busy 100% does not mean the time is most productive. As an organization grows toward $5 million, various positions within an organization will begin to be more efficient. Organizations between 5 and 10 million dollars seem to be the most efficient. Once organizations reach $10 million in revenue there is a new level of inefficiency as they build new layers of management.
A Contracted Individual vs. Hiring an Employee Efficiency rule:
When starting a program/initiative there are many unknowns. How will things run?What are the best ways to accomplish this? Whom will we serve? Is there enough interest to support the program? What will be the market support for the price? The use of contracted individuals to start a program/initiative is the best way to incur the least costs and make something successful. A contracted position can be created to be more outcome based and costs assigned and tracked more closely. Too many times when a new program/initiative is started it is blended with other ongoing costs, which makes it very hard to track what the true costs and needs are to make the program replicable.
Brand Use Efficiency:
Many organizations have created great program models, procedures or processes that only they know about. The use of your brand and its accomplishments are important elements to make your organization stand out. While it is great to share ideas, it is even better when you get the credit.
