working smarter

Euro 2020: Teamwork Makes Dreamwork!

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support
A woman filming a football stadium through her SAMSUNG mobile phone

We all know that teamwork makes dreamwork, and that’s especially true for the England team competing in Euro 2020 at the moment. The team worked together to win a European Championship opener for the first time, ever!

This got us thinking about teamwork and how goals and dreams can be achieved when we work with others. So, in this blog we’re sharing our top teamwork tips. 

Set & Define Goals

Start off any project with clear and defined goals (and make sure all of these are communicated to your team). You can do this by creating a mission statement, setting OKRs (objectives and key results or KPIs (key performance indicators). This will help you prioritize your precious time and resources.

Collaborate

You’re only human, and not expected to have all the skills to do everything – this is why Collaboration is key. Work together to share different aspects of your project with your team, highlighting individual different talents, skills and strengths.  

Communicate Regularly 

Open and honest communication is vital to effective teamwork. Members of your team need to feel comfortable to express their ideas and thoughts so you can drive your project forward.

Be Supportive

Always offer help in your team and be supportive when you can, this shows you’re a team player, and who knows, you may need the same in return one day!

What are your top Teamwork tips? Let us know by tweeting us @mbsmih. We’d love to hear from you!

Working Smarter, Not Harder

MOMENTUM Business Support Administration, Business Support
A hand placing some colourful post it notes on a white wall which display different tasks

The age-old adage that is used by many business owners across the globe. But what does it really mean and how can you ensure you’re being as efficient as possible.

Working ‘smartly’ (or efficiently) quite simply means doing the right task in the best way, without wasting any time or effort. The best way to do that? Plan, measure and prioritise…

I’m sure you’ve heard it many times, but planning for tomorrow today is the number one key to a productive day. (If you don’t do anything else suggested here, I guarantee this will immediately make you more efficient.) 

Still, if you want to be the ‘smartest worker’, please keep reading!

It’s great to have a plan or to do list for tomorrow (to avoid procrastination and hit the ground running), but without understanding how long a task might take, or knowing their value and priority, there will still be efficiency gaps.

Take the time to actively measure how long (averagely) each task needs. They might be daily, weekly, monthly or even annually. But in most cases, they will all be a repeat of something you’ve done before (or will become that way as your business endures). Once you know this, you’ll be able to start mastering your daily plan. 

Next, prioritise and add a value to each of the tasks. For example; a 1, 2, 3 priority scale in conjunction with an income earning scale (0, £, ££ or £££). This will help you determine which tasks to tackle first in the day and which could roll over to the following day if necessary – or even be removed entirely! 

Nothing is simple when running a business, there will always be other distractions that pop up, so plan for those too. Emails and calls for example (measure the average time you spend on these). They will invariably come in at random times throughout the day, disturbing your flow and impeding your efficiency! But you can stop them. Plan times into your day for checking emails and for taking/ returning calls. As long as you communicate this to your team and clients, no-one will be disappointed or frustrated.

This blog was originally featured in Issue 17 of Worthing & Adur Chamber Of Commerce’s Connect Magazine: Read it here.