How Mitigating Mistakes For Your Business Can Make Things Run Smoother
Everybody makes mistakes. They do say that to err is human, after all. However, making a mistake in business could lead to a lot of trouble.
Some small mistakes are easily picked up on and corrected, but other errors could lead to further mistakes and serious consequences. From upsetting a loyal customer to getting your taxes wrong, you could end up trying to clean up a big mess.
If you want to reduce errors within your business, you need to think about both people and processes. Individuals make mistakes but they also arise from inefficient or incorrect processes.
Here's what you need to do to reduce business errors.Examine Your Processes
If your business processes aren't right, they could lead to plenty of mistakes. A bad business process could mean you're replicating the same mistakes over and over again. So how do you stop that from happening?
You need to examine your processes carefully and work out what could be going wrong. Whether the processes carried out by a man or machine, any stage of a process could be tripping things up.
When you audit everything, make sure you speak to employees to see if they have any insights.
Use Software to Automate Your Business
Sometimes, a human set of eyes is the best thing when you need to check something for errors. However, often technology can be much better at finding errors for us, as long as we give it the right instructions.
Automating things like invoice processing with tech from DataServ.com should help to take the effort out of eliminating errors. Information will get checked automatically so that less errors can occur. A tired or busy employee isn't going to miss something important.
Plus, it frees up more time for your employees to do other things so they can be more productive.
For example, I use Agorapulse now to schedule most of my Instagram posts, as it has saved me from making mistakes with typos. Being able to do it from the desktop vs. a mobile phone is just wonderful on the eyes.
Learning to mitigate mistakes for your business will save also you time!
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Set Clear Employee Standards
When you do rely on people to get tasks done, you want to help them do the best job possible. It's difficult to completely eliminate human error, but there are things you can do to make it more likely.
Start by setting clear for your employees and being transparent about what they are. If employees know what's expected of them, it's easier for them to do their jobs well.
They should be able to refer to the standards expected of them when necessary and also have the support and tools that they need.
For example, when I started with a new freelancer here, I showed them exactly what I needed so they would send me things in the correct format. Why waste time going back and forth until they got it right?
Find and Fix Mistakes Quickly
Mistakes can happen, even if you put a lot of effort into preventing them. The important thing is that if a mistake does occur, you put it right as soon as possible.
That's why it makes sense to have procedures for dealing with mistakes. As well as being able to spot them quickly, everyone should know how they should be addressed.
Think about how a mistake should be corrected. Then, possibly how to handle letting people know, such as a client who the mistake might affect. If you can let someone know in advance of a mistake before they find out from someone else they will be less upset over it. (in most cases!) I used to use that method when I worked for print media.
If I saw a mistake that was already printed and could not be corrected I would contact the client beforehand. Most clients appreciated knowing in advance and having the ability to prepare for it. Otherwise, your client could be blindsided by the mistake.
Your business will probably make mistakes, but you can still try to prevent them and deal with them well when they occur.
Your Turn on Mitigating Mistakes for Your Business
How are you mitigating mistakes for your business? Mistakes will happen - It's more how we handle them that makes a difference. I'd love to know more in the comments below how you have improved since your mistakes.
Or, what has been your biggest mistake? Let's discuss in the comments below!