Tips, Insights & Tactics
Make the Most of Your Planning Strategies For Greater Productivity
It may be said that the best laid plans of mice
and men often go astray — and yet, plans
are pivotal to reaching our goals. The secret
is in creating plans that are both realistic and
fluid enough to keep up with a changing
environment and real time demands. Checking
in periodically with your plan gives you an
opportunity to assess goals and processes — at
both a personal and business level — and can
also help you evaluate new ideas for growth and
improvement. You may even discover it’s time to
expand, adopt helpful personal habits or invest
in a better way to manage your budget.
Use our 5-Step Checklist as a starting point to
take stock of what’s working and what can be
improved upon with your plans and goals.
Analyze Your Current Approach
It’s early enough in the year that you may still be putting the final touches
on your 2016 plans and goals. If so, take out last year’s plan if you have
one, and start with some honest questions: How did the plan perform?
What worked well and what needs to change? Can you leverage the
successes and find creative ways to turnaround disappointments?
Approaching your plans with an objective eye can also help you
distinguish between goals that are worth working toward and those
that are simply impractical.
The 5-Step Checklist
Take a look at each area to evaluate aspects that can be improved upon
or leveraged for greater success:
1. C
osts and Revenue: How sound is your financial footing? Is your
revenue rising or falling? Where can you introduce cost-saving ideas?
2. Marketing/Networking: Is your strategy working? Is your piece of
the market growing? How do you locate, attract and retain customers,
advertise and promote your business or yourself?
3. Competition/Peers: Do you know who your successful competitors or
associates are? What tactics might they be using that you could learn from?
Where are you the most vulnerable and how can you benefit or improve?
4. Personnel: Where are your greatest strengths/weaknesses? Do you
have the resources to handle growth or does new staff need to be
hired? How can you optimize effectiveness and productivity?
5. Operations: What areas represent the greatest return on your
investment (in terms of time, money and energy)? Are there current
processes that can be made more efficient for a minimal investment?
How can innovation change your daily workflow for the better?
It’s About Time
Now that you’ve reviewed the nuts and bolts of your plan you no doubt
discovered areas where change is needed. A good place to start is to
focus on how you spend your time. Improvements in time management
almost always guarantee good results; finding ways to reduce steps
means greater efficiency and saves both time and money.
You can also save time by properly managing how the information
that is important to your success is moved, stored and secured. 70% of
professionals believe improving document processes helps them respond
to market needs faster and 62% say it would improve revenue1.
Tips, Insights & Tactics
Make the Most of Your Planning Strategies For Greater Productivity
Taking advantage of Xerox® ConnectKey® Technology can help automate
processes that take time and money. The Xerox® WorkCentre® 6505
Color Multifunction Printer can grow your business simply and efficiently,
offering multifunction capabilities in an affordable desktop package.
Innovate to Expand
Innovative ideas do not only apply to introducing new products but can
be relevant to your existing products and services, helping you grow
into new markets. You can also innovate the way your work gets done
with new technologies. Xerox® Scan to PC Desktop lets you scan paper
documents from your Xerox printer and save them to a local PC, server,
SharePoint or the cloud.
Apps That Simplify the Everyday
Remember when apps were a quirky and fun “gimmick” that helped you
find a good restaurant or avoid traffic? Not so in today’s workplace where
apps have transformed the way we spend our time and focus our energies.
Numerous business apps have been introduced that change the work
processes flow, simplifying tasks and curbing expenses along the way.
The Most Important Checklist
When was the last time you took a personal inventory as it related to
your workflow and productivity? Research on the relationship between
performance, productivity and good health shows overwhelmingly that
healthy humans are naturally more industrious. According to survey
results from the nonprofit Health Enhancement Research Organization
(HERO), more than 90 percent of business leaders say that employee
wellness has a direct effect on employee productivity and performance.
And while we may all know that a good night’s sleep helps productivity,
aids in decision making and makes us better team workers, we may
not always make the choices that get the results. Creating a personal
checklist on ways to eat better, get more exercise and set work boundaries
(balancing hours for family, friends, personal growth and hobbies or
becoming more civically engaged) is a good first step on the path.
Let Us Help You
Xerox® ConnectKey® Apps go one step further, extending the capabilities
of your multifunction printers built on Xerox® ConnectKey® Technology
and help you make the most of your hardware investment. Unlike
traditional software, ConnectKey Apps do not require a dedicated server,
PC or IT resource.
At Xerox, we’re always on the lookout for ways to help you work
better and with greater ease. Our time-saving technology and
services and business insight can help you stay competitive and
productive in today’s changing markets.
You can download ConnectKey Apps to your ConnectKey enabled
multifunction printer via USB or CentreWare Internet Services.
• Get a free printer, service and support with the Xerox® Small
Office Savings Plan. Options in this technology-as-a-service
plan start as low as $ 59 per month.
Want More Tips?
Check out Tips and Free Tools for
Productivity on our Small Business
Tips page, along with:
Programs that Help You Improve Productivity
• Trade-in your old printer for a new one and get a rebate of
up to 10% or $ 610 on a new Xerox® printer.
• Earn merchandise credits for the Genuine Xerox® Rewards
program every time you reorder Genuine Xerox® Supplies for
your Xerox® device.
• Best Practices to Manage Your
Growing Business
• 12 Tips for Personal Career Growth
Want More Downloads?
Enjoy our Small Business Templates
page for downloads of the following
helpful items:
Visit us on the web or ask your local Xerox provider
about our comprehensive line of printers and
multifunction printers available to help you keep
your workflow flowing. xerox.com/office
www.
• Action Item/To Do Lists
• Planners
• Brochure and Newsletter Templates
1
IDC, The Role of Documents: How They Drive Business, Today and Tomorrow. Angele Boyd, 2013
©2016 Xerox Corporation. All rights reserved. Xerox®, Xerox and Design® and Xerox eConcierge® are
trademarks of Xerox Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Xerox Canada Ltd. is a
licensee of all Xerox trademarks. BR14678 XOAFL-47UA
Click an icon below to share this tip sheet with your social media networks: