ConnectWise Consulting

Office Efficiency During The Holidays

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The holiday season is upon us, bringing joy, celebration, and a little extra chaos to the workplace. While it’s a time for employees to unwind and recharge, it can be challenging for businesses to maintain productivity. The good news is that with the right approach, you can keep your employees efficient even during the holidays. In this blog, we’ll explore some strategies to ensure that the festive spirit doesn’t disrupt your company’s productivity.

Plan Ahead: Set Clear Expectations

One of the keys to maintaining efficiency during the holiday season is to plan ahead. Communicate your expectations and any changes in work schedules well in advance. Provide clear guidelines on time-off requests, project deadlines, and holiday-related company policies.

Encourage Flexible Scheduling

Allow employees to have flexible work schedules during the holiday season. This means they can adjust their work hours to accommodate holiday preparations, shopping, and family events. Flexible scheduling can reduce stress and make it easier for employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance.

Offer Remote Work Options

With the advent of technology, remote work has become more accessible than ever. Encourage employees to work remotely when it makes sense for their roles. Remote work can reduce commuting time and increase productivity. Be sure to provide the necessary tools and resources to support remote work effectively.

Prioritize Work-Life Balance

The holiday season is a time for employees to spend quality time with their loved ones. Encourage them to take advantage of this opportunity to recharge. Emphasize the importance of work-life balance and allow employees to disconnect from work when they are on their designated time off.

Streamline Communication

Effective communication is essential during the holiday season. Streamline communication channels to ensure that critical information is shared efficiently. Tools like project management software, instant messaging, and email can help keep teams connected and informed.

Minimize Unnecessary Meetings

Consider reducing the number of meetings during the holiday season. While some meetings are essential, eliminating unnecessary ones can free up time for more meaningful tasks. When meetings are necessary, make sure they are focused and have a clear agenda.

Recognize and Reward Efforts

Acknowledge the hard work and dedication of your employees, especially during the holiday season. Offering small tokens of appreciation or expressing gratitude can go a long way in motivating and energizing your team.

Provide Support for Well-being

The holiday season can be stressful for some employees. Make sure they have access to resources for managing stress, such as employee assistance programs or wellness initiatives. Encourage self-care and provide guidance on maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Cross-Train Employees

Cross-training employees ensures that essential tasks can be handled even when some team members are on vacation. Cross-training not only enhances employees’ skills but also provides flexibility in resource allocation.

Reflect and Prepare for the Next Year

As the year comes to a close, take the time to reflect on your company’s performance and plan for the year ahead. Use the holiday season to set goals and strategies for a successful start to the new year.

In conclusion, the holiday season can be a time of joy and increased productivity if managed wisely. By planning ahead, supporting work-life balance, and creating an environment that values employee well-being, you can keep your team motivated and efficient even during the most festive times of the year. Happy holidays and a productive new year!

FocusPlanit is one of the industry’s premier ConnectWise® Consultants serving the entire United States. We offer hands-on support and training to ensure you get the maximum benefits from your business solutions and software. Contact us today and let us be your partner in success. You can learn more about our offerings and team on our website.

outsourcing

Outsourcing: The Answer to Staffing Shortages

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With staffing shortages becoming a very real issue for businesses, outsourcing is an easy answer. Outsourcing can be an unfamiliar concept for businesses and does raise questions – will outsourcing cause issues and loss of confidence for my customers?  Will outsourcing mean I lose control and consistency? Many companies are concerned about compromising service and product quality for the sake of cost-saving when they decide to outsource business tasks.

At FocusPlanit we understand these concerns – that’s why our goal is to not only reduce costs, but also to improve the quality of the customer experience. FocusPlanit is a concentrated team of professional, seasoned experts focused on helping you create and maintain a successful business. We are on a mission to help business owners build highly functioning and sustainable operations leveraging existing systems.

What Benefits Can Outsourcing Offer Your Business?

Outsourcing back office operations can help businesses strategically use their systems to meet their business goals by:

  1. Controlling Costs
  2. Decreasing Downtime
  3. Provide Enhanced Security
  4. Reduce Risk
  5. Offer Compliance Expertise
  6. Support Remote Workers
  7. Guide Strategic Growth
  8. Provide Peace of Mind

Outsourcing Saves Time and Money

The number one reason for outsourcing is to save time and money. Often, a business chooses to take non-core activities out to free up stretched resources. As a result, you can focus on what you do best.

By partnering with a dedicated team of consultants, you can identify and streamline the gaps within your current processes. freeing up your time (and your budget) for other high-priority areas of your business.

Additionally, you don’t just benefit from the expertise outsourced solutions provide, but you also benefit from top-quality technology and infrastructure to pave the growth path. For small companies, it’s the perfect opportunity to enjoy the latest technology at a manageable cost.

FocusPlanit serves the entire United States and is the industry’s premier team of highly qualified ConnectWise, QuickBooks, Wise-Sync, GoZynta, CharTec, ConnectBooster experts who have dedicated years of their professional life implementing and optimizing these solutions. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation.

When To Fire A Client

When To Fire A Client

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As a consulting firm, we find most clients to be a pleasure to work with, but sometimes you end up with a client so difficult that, to protect your time, reputation, and your company, you need to politely fire them. Here’s how to fire a client as painlessly as possible so you can get back to business.

No one wants to fire a client. They pay us money, they have interesting projects, and sometimes they become our friends. Then there’s the other kind of client; the one who is such a nightmare to work with that your business starts to lose money and morale.

Valid Reasons For When To Fire A Client

  • Lack of communication
  • No acknowledgment of expertise
  • Unconstructive, hostile, or offensive criticism
  • Unethical business practices
  • Unwillingness to share frustrations
  • Unreasonable expectations
  • Inability to afford services

 Plan Your Exit Strategy

 Step 1: Get Involved

If you are the owner, have a hands-on approach, gather, and document as much information as you can to protect your brand. Determine how you can reduce your workload with the client so there won’t be much left to complete in order to complete your relationship with them. Start turning down any new assignments and decline to sign a new contract.

Step 2: Don’t talk yourself out of it.

Many business owners are concerned to fire a client for fear of a negative effect on their business reputation but remind yourself that the time you will save not dealing with their nonsense will open up an opportunity to find and secure an ideal client who will pay you more and, more importantly, treat you better. In addition, think about the example you are setting for your employees, an example that will make them feel company pride and feel valued if they were involved in any of the negative dealings.

Step 3: Write a professional letter

It’s important to let your client know in writing that you do not plan to continue the working relationship. This enables you to establish a clear exit plan with end dates and project closure. The resignation or disengagement letter may also be an opportunity to let the client know what was not working in the relationship in hopes that the client may change their behavior for the better when they work with other partners in the future.

Feel Good About Your Decision

Firing bad clients helps create the time and energy you need to take on those dream clients who are waiting in the wings to take your small business to the next level. Suddenly, work will no longer feel like a hassle. Instead, you will feel good, knowing you made the right business decision. You’ll be able to enjoy balanced, challenging, and lucrative projects with clients you appreciate and who appreciate the value you bring them.

Trust us, we know firsthand how difficult it is to fire a client, but as a consulting firm we also know ho important it is to engage with partners who appreciate the value we bring to their operations.

FocusPlanit serves the entire United States and is the industry’s premier team of highly qualified ConnectWise, QuickBooks, Wise-Sync, GoZynta, CharTec, ConnectBooster experts who have dedicated years of their professional life implementing and optimizing these solutions. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation.

managing holiday stress

Managing Holiday Stress

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We’ve identified tips for managing holiday stress at home and in the workplace. Holidays are usually the happiest time of the year because we have additional quality time with family and friends and often share in meals and other uplifting social functions. But at the same time, the added scheduling pressures, sometimes indulgent eating, and other departures from our normal routines adds stress that can be difficult to balance, not to mention the added stress around COVID!

Here are 5 simple lifestyle tips to help get you manage holiday stress:

1. Don’t over-commit 

As much as it seems like you want to attend every holiday social, party, and dinner, sometimes it is absolutely overwhelming to do it all and still manage your daily life. Select those things that matter most and politely decline the things that don’t, and you will thank yourself later. No one expects you to do it all, so don’t expect it of yourself.

2. Plan self-care activities

If the joy and chaos of the holidays really does overwhelm you, then schedule some planned downtime. Set time aside to treat yourself to a facial, beauty treatment, get a massage, or engage in a quiet activity that lets you reset and gather your energy.

3. Maintain as much routine as possible

Holidays are terrible for routines. While a few can just go with the flow, most of us rely on regular structure to keep our lives manageable. If you stick to the basics of your routine (when you get up, when you eat, when you exercise, etc.), then you will have more emotional and physical energy to manage the holiday chaos. Sticking to #1 (don’t over-commit) is helpful in this regard.

4. Don’t neglect sleep

When it comes to schedules and routines, the most important routine might be sleep. If you neglect sleep, then everything else will be more stressful and harder to manage.

So stick with your regular sleep schedule as much as possible. It might get disrupted by a party or two, or holiday travel, but if you can keep a regular bedtime and a regular waking time on as many days as possible, your body will better tolerate the stress that comes your way. If you have trouble sleeping due to stress, there are natural products you can take to promote better sleep.

5. Stay active

Exercise is recognized by experts such as those at Mayo Clinic as an important stress-management tool that can keep your body and mind more stress-tolerant all the time.

Too often at the holidays we let regular exercise go by the wayside (eh-hem routine…) along with the rest of our self-care. Keeping exercise on your calendar is challenging but still very important.

Helping Employees Manage Holiday Stress

There are a few simple actions managers can do to help boost morale and help employees manage holiday stress including:

  • Incorporate wellness breaks to give employees a chance to refocus‍
  • Help employees prioritize projects to manage pending deadlines and/or incorporate a consulting partner to help manage back-end office activities‍
  • Encourage employees to stay home when sick
  • Educate employees about wellness related activities including sharing this blog

For more information on this topic, or to learn how FocusPlanit can help your organization be more effective and efficient, contact our team. FocusPlanit serves the entire United States and is the industry’s premier team of highly qualified ConnectWise, QuickBooks, Wise-Sync, GoZynta, CharTec, ConnectBooster experts who have dedicated years of their professional life implementing and optimizing these solutions. Contact us today to schedule a complimentary consultation.