David Morey 
Business administrators play an important role in the daily operations of businesses of all sizes. If you choose a career in business administration, your employer will rely on you to handle various duties that need to be fulfilled for the business to survive and thrive in the marketplace.
One of the most important roles of a business administrator is streamlining business production so tasks can be carried out more easily and efficiently. This increase in production can help businesses manage affairs that concern clients, facilitate collaboration among employees, and ultimately increase their profits. When business administrators find the best ways to streamline operations, businesses can also meet their goals more easily and effectively address any problems that might arise.
Business administrators are often tasked with overseeing multiple departments within a company, but you may also choose to specialize in a specific business administration field if you choose this career path. Business administration specialties include finance, marketing, and business analytics. Some business administrators are also trained to work in specific industries, such as healthcare or technology.
Whether you choose to specialize or work in general business administration, you can put your education to good use and demonstrate your value as a professional by learning how to streamline business production.
Manage Complex Schedules
Many businesses have complicated schedules that change from day to day. Not all departments within a company have the same schedules in many cases, and business administrators who manage multiple departments must know how to balance daily planning for each department effectively to avoid scheduling conflicts and other setbacks that could hamper production. Scheduling can be especially challenging if a company operates around the clock, and you may need to work even harder to manage schedules if you work for one of these types of businesses.
Depending on the size and organization of a company, a business administrator may have support staff to help them manage schedules, or you might be tasked with overseeing scheduling on your own. Even if you have support staff working with you to help with planning, you will ultimately be responsible for making sure each schedule coordinates with the business’s needs to avoid lost production.
To streamline scheduling, business administrators often use computing and cloud-based scheduling software to plan and specify the times that certain events throughout each day are expected to occur. These events might include company meetings with staff members or clients and special projects that need to be factored into the schedule. As a business administrator, you can also help manage each employee’s individual schedule to ensure that every staff member fulfills their job duties.
Address Staffing Needs
Businesses need strong workforces to remain competitive in the corporate world, and business administrators often help companies build highly competent and reliable teams. You may be assigned to serve as a recruiter or hiring manager or collaborate with these professionals if the company you work for decides to hire other people to fill these roles.
To find the most suitable workers to help your company maximize productivity, you should look carefully at each applicant’s qualifications to ensure that only the most capable people are considered for a position. The experience level that each candidate possesses in fulfilling certain job duties should also be considered so you can select new hires who are likely to adjust to their new positions quickly.
You may also need to make some tough decisions about staffing as a business administrator to streamline business production. The choice of whether to terminate or lay off certain employees can have a major impact on the way your company operates, and several factors should be considered before final decisions are made about these matters.
During times of staffing shortages, you can provide extra value to your company by devising ways to fill open positions quickly. To attract new hires faster and keep business production at its peak, you can take steps such as writing detailed and enticing job postings and offering to pay new employees higher salaries or bonuses if your company allows it.
To streamline business operations further, business administrators sometimes must decide whether to outsource certain jobs. Outsourcing work to consultants and other professionals who work outside the company may be a wise decision if your company needs people who can bring more in-depth expertise in certain fields to help your business become more productive and profitable. You may also choose to outsource if staff members at your company are having difficulty completing certain projects in a timely manner or if your company is trying to manage more than it can comfortably handle to meet customer demands.
Boost Employee Morale
The overall mood of its employees can make or break a business. If staff members are unhappy at work, business production will likely suffer. By putting in some extra effort to boost morale among your employees, you may see a remarkable change in work output.
One of the easiest ways to improve the overall mood among staff is by offering performance bonuses to employees who are highly productive and willing to go above and beyond their job duties to produce excellent work. These bonuses may encourage employees to put more effort into their work and can also promote a healthy sense of competition among staff.
Other simple ways to boost morale and streamline production include listening to employee feedback carefully and sponsoring fun outings or work activities for staff. Simply complimenting employees for a job well done can also go a long way.
Procure Supplies And Equipment
Purchasing new supplies and equipment is an essential component of running a business, and you may be enlisted to help in the procurement of these important goods. These supplies and equipment may include raw materials, the latest technology, and advanced machinery that can help streamline work.
Procuring supplies and equipment involves more than just ordering goods from any supplier and having them delivered. Vendor selection is a key component of procurement, and a good business administrator knows how to choose vendors who can produce and deliver the supplies and equipment that are needed in a timely manner. Choosing an unreliable vendor can interfere with productivity and hurt the business.
Contracts can also be established with vendors to guarantee that your business will have a dependable source of supplies and equipment when needed so there are no gaps in the company’s production. You can also manage contractors better as a business administrator by knowing how to negotiate contract terms with vendors to get the best deals and fastest deliveries possible to further streamline productivity.
Business administrators must also manage invoices to keep the business from overpaying and losing money. When invoices are reviewed, they should be carefully scrutinized to compare the charges of the goods to what was actually delivered by the vendors. Your company’s production could suffer if the money that should have been allocated to streamline other processes was erroneously spent on supplies or equipment that were never delivered.
Reduce Waste
Your company might be creating more waste than you realize. Finding methods of decreasing waste is another way to streamline many of the processes that are essential to operating the company.
The business you work for might be producing more products than necessary, and addressing this problem can free up more time, money, and resources to devote to other important business matters. You should review production data closely to identify areas where wasted production might be occurring.
Time is also an important resource that should never be wasted. By finding ways to improve production and customer response times, you can help streamline work. Any work errors that are discovered should be fixed as soon as possible to avoid wasting time and production.
Bridge The Gap Between Staff And Upper Management.
Business administrators often act as an intermediary between upper management and the rest of the staff. The best business administrator will know how to communicate upper management’s goals for the company to staff and devise plans that make sense for all parties involved.
Since business administrators are higher up the chain of command than most other staff members, you will have more direct access to upper management and will have an easier time informing them of your employees’ needs. Upper management will also count on you to relay information to supporting staff in a comprehensive, easy-to-understand format so everyone will be on the same page when working to reach goals.
Staff members may also be dealing with certain problems that are hindering production and need to be brought to upper management’s attention if you are not able to resolve them on your own. Whether the problems involve production difficulties or other serious issues, such as harassment or wage disputes, you can keep your company on the path to success if you work with upper management to address these matters.
The right education can instill the skills you will need to communicate with upper management and the rest of the workforce effectively. You can earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree online from St. Bonaventure and gain the knowledge that will help sharpen your communication skills and put you on the path to greater success. One of the main benefits of online MBA programs is having more flexibility in your learning schedule so you can further your education while balancing other responsibilities.
Update Outdated Processes
Business administrators often need to help companies move away from old production methods that are obsolete and keep up with modern times. From record keeping to scheduling, you may be responsible for finding the most innovative solutions to a variety of outdated processes as part of your job as a business administrator. By updating these outdated processes, you can increase the speed and accuracy of production.
If you work as a business administrator in the technology field, you can update the way your company manages its devices by implementing one of the technologically advanced device management programs that are designed to increase production and improve security. The best device management programs even allow you and other employees to program and oversee devices remotely, which can be highly advantageous to the way your company does business.
Modernizing your company’s operations might also involve going paperless wherever possible, and you will likely be seen as a major asset by your employer if you can carry out this transition effectively. By going paperless, you can free up the time it takes to process invoices, manage reports, and search for documents that are stored in file cabinets.
Updating outdated processes can also help businesses stay compliant with regulations. Some outdated processes may be in violation of current security and confidentiality rules, and you can help your business avoid lost production and potential legal consequences if you take swift action to get these processes updated.
Some production methods that were recently considered cutting-edge may quickly become outdated because of technology’s rapid advancements, so business managers who oversee updates must monitor trends in these areas regularly. It is helpful to set aside time at least once every business quarter to review each process to find out if updates can be made to streamline business production further.
Employees may need training to work with new systems, so you should ensure that each staff member has access to proper instruction. If employees are not properly trained, it could lead to slower or stalled production.
Final Thoughts
Developing the most effective ways to streamline business production can be one of the most rewarding aspects of working as a business administrator. If you regularly invest time and effort in finding better ways to simplify and speed up work, you will likely be viewed as an indispensable employee.
