Plugging the leaks in Hong Kong's workplace inefficiencies

As the 9^th largest trading economy in the world, Hong Kong has a highly sophisticated infrastructure to enable workers to work efficiently and seamlessly.

Hong Kong also has an exceptionally friendly tax regime, multiple transport options, is a world renowned exhibition centre and offers a host of other business-friendly incentives.

However, setting up a company, opening a branch office or establishing a regional headquarters requires strict adherence to budgets and attention to making cost savings to enable the business to become and retain profitability.

Productivity must also be effectively managed to ensure staff are focused on their specific roles or tasks on hand.

As a tool of communication, email often ‘eats’ up the day but through the utilization of some simple steps, email usage can be ‘starved’ while mission-critical activities can be completed.

Another area that often impacts productivity is meetings. Although a necessary part of doing business, meetings are prone to ‘leaks’ in time and can spiral out of control leaving all participants with reduced productivity, more stress, deadline pressure and more.

Plug these leaks by incorporating the following helpful tips.

Switching off as a way to switch on

Modern technology makes it wonderfully easy to stay connected at all times, but being switched on 24 hours a day can have a negative affect on productivity.

The ping of a new email hitting your inbox can be highly distracting, and pausing your current task to assess the importance of a new message can significantly impact work rates.

By switching off all sounds on your phone, PC or other device or simply switching off the automatic email updates considerably nullifies the annoying interruptions.

Afraid of missing an email? Accessing your inbox at infrequent intervals vastly improves productivity.

Limit your email access

Sometimes turning off email notifications isn't enough. If you find that you are drowning in a sea of email despite your best intentions, try setting yourself a rule of only checking your messages two or three times an hour, twice a day or at a rate that is workable for you.

A method that ensures this is successful is setting up an auto-vacation message explaining your availability. This can take a lot of willpower, but by limiting the amount of time you spend checking your email on a day-to-day basis, you can significantly reduce stress and allow yourself the time and mental space you need to fully develop ideas.

Be sure to include in the auto-away message how people can contact you or a colleague if in emergency.

Trust Your Staff

You should also be aware of the occasions when you are not the most appropriate person to deal with an email enquiry. Boost efficiency by filtering your emails through an assistant who can ensure you see important messages and help you avoid wasting time.

Agenda Setting

When you know a client well or think you have a firm grasp of what's expected, it can be tempting to simply set up a casual meeting. This is never advisable. Always prepare an agenda you can refer to throughout the meeting to ensure you remain in control of the direction and that all essential topics are covered.

Failing to decide on actions for people

Some meetings can feel productive at the time, but ultimately prove to have been useless. The most common cause of this problem is a failure to give people specific follow-up tasks.

During your meeting, create points of action for individuals together with realistic completion dates and make sure everyone understands their objectives. Always record these, as well as any other decisions made, and send copies to all participants and anyone that may be impacted by the actions after your meeting and, critically, within 48 hours.

Inviting too many people

For a smooth and efficient business meeting, it is essential that you limit the number of people you involve. An overly large meeting quickly becomes unwieldy and ineffective.

The more participants, the longer the meeting is likely to last. Similarly, everyone attending that meeting should be there for a reason and bring a level of expertise to ensure the meeting is successful.

Choosing the wrong location

The location you choose for your business meeting can have a huge effect on its outcome. While a coffee shop or restaurant may be acceptable for casual catch-ups, they do not offer the professional air crucial for successful meetings.

Maximizing productivity and minimizing inefficiency is an oft-repeated mantra by all businesses whether they are a time-poor entrepreneur, a start up or a company seeking to establish a regional office in Hong Kong.

A viable option is to make use of virtual or serviced offices as these offer a number of services including a quality address, staff, meeting places, etc. and importantly, provide freedom to concentrate on essential tasks at hand.