As my role at Delta Media Group® has changed over the years, I've learned a lot about the value of process and organization when it comes to, not just getting things done, but using time as efficiently as possible. It's very difficult to even get a handle on how much work you really have if the bulk of your time is spent working out the best way to prioritize and approach that work instead of actually doing it. 

This used to be very simple for me as my role here was so reactive by nature. As someone providing customer and internal support, I would receive a question or reported issue, complete any necessary research and documentation, then act on or respond with what I found. The prioritization was as simple as knowing what came to be first. The procedure, at a high level anyway, was essentially the same. Research, document, and fix (or send to someone that can fix it). These days, my role is much more proactive. A big part of it is keeping an eye on how we go about doing things to see where we can free up time and work more efficiently. A lot of energy also goes into recognizing where bottlenecks appear so that we can keep projects moving, then making sure our solutions are documented so there are no questions going forward. My goal with this article is just to pass on a little of what I've learned in hopes that it can help you run your business more efficiently. Hopefully, once you have things organized, you'll see the added benefit of not being as busy as it feels like you are. 

First, never keep the same things in multiple places. I've tried it. It can seem like a good solution at the time. You have one place for information you're maintaining control of, then duplicate that information in a second place to give someone else visibility, or even the ability to modify it there. In practice, it just creates more work though. You're always chasing down changes on one side or the other trying to keep things in sync.  

There's some nuance to that idea though. First, this doesn't mean you can't access the same data in different ways. For example, if you store all of your contacts in your Google account, you can access that account from any computer, tablet, mobile device, etc., and that allows for more efficiency instead of less. That data really only exists in one place, and so you're only manipulating it in that one place. You're just able to take multiple paths to get to it. Think of looking at your backyard through your kitchen window, then looking at it through your bedroom window. It's the same backyard. If you throw a can of paint out of your kitchen window, then look at your yard from the bedroom, you'll see the same splotch of paint. You're welcome for the strangest analogy I've ever conceived for the concept of Cloud Storage, but you get the point.  

Backups are also a good thing. Even a necessary thing. However, this should be automatic. You're only working with the data in one place unless that data is lost and in need of being restored. You can also consider an exception for keeping data in two places that are synced automatically. Maybe you have contacts in a CRM and have the same contacts in a Google account. Those separate accounts are then kept in sync by some automation so any change made on either side shows on the other side. This can be useful in certain scenarios, but it's good to use that kind of functionality with caution. It introduces the potential for data transfers to be delayed or maybe every piece of information isn't covered by the sync process. Therefore, it's important to make sure this is functionality that will actually benefit you. For example, you can enter and interact with contacts in the DeltaNET® directly on your mobile device, so involving a synced Google account sometimes just adds an unnecessary step.  

Second, having functionality spread over multiple platforms tends to create additional work, and even confusion when it comes to remembering where to look for what functionality. This also speaks back to the first issue in that your contacts may need to exist within multiple platforms if all of those platforms need to interact with them. Even the billing element is more confusing, and often more expensive than going with a single platform that covers all of your needs. This is sometimes unavoidable as there may not be a single platform that can provide everything you need it to do. However, it's best to avoid spreading things around whenever possible. As it relates to the DeltaNET, this can almost serve as a warning. We've had customers in the past engage third parties to provide services that they simply didn't know the DeltaNET could already provide without any additional cost. Therefore, if you're a Delta customer, before engaging a third party for any services, make sure you reach out to our support team or your Partner Success Manager to make sure you're not looking into functionality that you already have, or could have turned on, at a minimal cost or no cost at all. You might be surprised and, more importantly, you might save yourself a lot of time and money.  

Last (or the last thing I can think of, anyway), is that it's almost always worth the time to establish and document processes before you need them whenever possible. When something comes up that you don't have a process to handle, you invariably end up burning more than a little time working out how to handle it instead of actually doing the handling. That act is more or less coming up with a process anyway, but if you don't fine-tune it to be useful in general (as opposed to a process that is extremely specific to the issue you're facing at the moment) and document it, you're going to be coming up with the same process over and over again every time it comes up. Just document that process the first time and reference it where necessary in the future and you'll be surprised by how much time that frees up for you.  

There's an argument to be made for doing this for everything, but I tend to make an exception when it comes to processes that are rarely needed. My loose rule on that is that if it's something that needs to be done twice a year or less, it's not worth the time it will take to establish, document, and roll out a process to cover it. However, it really comes down to the time you would spend on that versus the time you waste by not having one.  

So go forth with your newfound free time, born from working smarter instead of harder with the same amount of actual work, and make the most out of spring. You might be surprised by how much you can get done when the work is well organized.