Bottlenecks In Business: What Are They And How Can You Beat Them?

Work is often a series of multi-stage processes. Sometimes a certain stage in the process may take longer or may encounter more problems than others. This can cause a queue behind it resulting in a ‘bottleneck’.

Bottlenecks can affect the entire workflow, often resulting in a stall in production. As the work queues up, it can become a frantic race to catch up and meet deadlines, causing work to get rushed. By getting rid of this bottleneck, you can help to maintain a manageable flow and ensure that work is done in a timely manner. Here are just several ways in which you can beat the bottleneck.

Bring in extra staff

Those dealing with the bottleneck may require a helping hand in order to keep on top of the demand. Consider whether you need to hire extra staff for this stage of the process if bottlenecks are frequent, or whether you can redistribute certain staff members when required.

Improve your tools

You may be able to improve your tools in order to speed up production during the bottleneck stage. For instance, if you run a law firm and often find that retrieving client records causes a bottleneck, you could consider looking into software such as https://www.recordrs.com/. Another example could be a manufacturing company introducing a machine to handle packaging instead of doing it manually.

Complete work in batches

Once bottlenecks become possible to predict, you may find that you’re able to complete work in batches to help keep up with the demand. For instance, if you run a restaurant and a certain dish is popular on a certain day, you may be able to prepare by cooking up large amounts in advance. There may be similar ways in which you can do this with manufacturing and paperwork.  

Maintain quality controls

When a bottleneck occurs, the temptation is often to rush work in order to catch up with the queue of orders. This can sometimes negatively impact the quality – make sure that you’re still putting quality controls in place so that you’re delivering a sub-par product or service. This is particularly important if you feel that you’re going to miss the deadline agreed with your client – if you end up delivering the product late, you should at least make sure that it is still done to a high quality.

Adjust deadlines ahead

When it comes to taking on new clients and agreeing to deadlines, consider the current queue and whether this is likely to delay work. By setting yourself longer deadlines for new clients, you can slow down the flow at the beginning of the process, taking pressure off of the bottleneck. It’s easier to adjust deadlines for new customers than it is for existing customers who may have already been promised a specific date or time. This guide at https://www.quickbase.com offers more information on setting realistic deadlines. 

4 Ways to Modernize Your Business

If you bristle at the thought of adjusting the way you do business, you're not alone. Many entrepreneurs are resistant to changing their companies. After all, you created your business plan and set yourself up for the successful workplace that you operate now. However, if you want your company to remain relevant and your employees to keep on thinking up good ideas, you must listen to constructive criticism. Educate yourself about ways you can improve your company's performance in these areas.

1. Technology

Perhaps you started your company with no technology more advanced than a landline phone and a fax machine. While this was a valid way of operating for a long time, it is no longer enough. Speak to your information technology experts about recent developments that could help your company, such as the Enterprise Knowledge Graph. Choose a few new types of software or machines to try, and evaluate them after a month or two. 

2. Time Tracking

You've used the honor system for clocking in and out since you opened your doors, but it's time to switch to a more accurate method. Most of your employees are honest about the times that they sign in, but they frequently forget and make up their times. To avoid losing money to this practice, purchase time-tracking software. Most platforms are available either on people's desktops or apps. Before you approve someone's hours for the pay period, you can see how long they worked each day, including any breaks they logged. Your employees may resist this change at first, but soon they'll like being able to quickly see how many hours they've worked each pay period.

3. Discrimination

Discrimination occurs whenever someone treats another person differently because of the second person's race, age, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic class, or another uncontrollable factor. Whether you're aware of it or not, discrimination is probably occurring in your workplace, and you need to address it immediately. Talk to your human resources department to see how many people have filed discrimination reports recently. Invite your employees to a forum where they can share their experiences of unjust treatment in the workplace. Once you've listened to these stories, invest in diversity training for your entire staff. Watch your own actions to ensure that you do not favor members of certain groups while rejecting others.

4. Environmental Issues

For a while, you could get away with buying the cheapest materials available, regardless of how wasteful they were. Now, however, climate change has progressed to such an alarming extent that it's time to use your resources responsibly. Buy materials locally whenever possible, and choose the ones that are made in environmentally sustainable ways, even if they're more expensive. Encourage your employees to bring their own coffee cups rather than buying disposable ones. Avoid using paper for memos that you can just email to everyone. While these steps may seem insignificant, together, they have a real impact on the environment.

Don't let your company get stuck in the past. Instead, take these steps to modernize your workplace.