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The new year is fast approaching and businesses are starting to gear up for a new start. What new challenges lie ahead and how can businesses embrace these to their advantage?
Before any concrete action can be taken, it’s optimal for businesses to sit down and identify the goals they want to achieve. Here are some tips for those looking to kickstart this process!
The past year may have been full of various milestones and it’s imperative for businesses to recognise what they have achieved. Identifying business wins, acknowledging failures and outlining on what can be done better next year. What many businesses fail to realise is that such a process can actually do wonders for their employees’ motivation – according to Inc, any good employee would eventually lose patience if they are “never rewarded or even acknowledged” for their efforts. They might lose faith in the purpose of their work, severely impacting morale levels. It’s thus important for businesses to review, recognise and reward.
Every business would have come up with a long-term goal at the very start. However, as Forbes outlines, this long-term goal is most likely to change with time. At the end of every year, it’s pertinent for businesses to revisit this outlook and assess if there has been any change in direction. While a certain amount of detail is of the essence, it’s critical for businesses to look at the big picture and adjust their resources accordingly. Once a business identifies their long-term strategy, they will then be able to zoom in and set more specific goals.
On a similar note, it’s easy for businesses to get carried away with far-reaching goals. However, while it’s good to have a healthy dose of ambition, businesses should always remember to ground their lofty desires in reality. In other words, there’s no use having overzealous aspirations that the business is unable to achieve. The Australian Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science urges that goals should always be “specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely (SMART)”. To set a specific goal, Business.com states that a good place for businesses to start is to look at historical data and set benchmarks from there.
The way forward is to innovate. This is especially so for the year ahead, where technology is a key factor at play in our modern business landscape. With Artificial Intelligence, Hybrid Multi-Cloud Platforms and Immersive Augmented Reality technologies on the rise, any business that does not look to innovate will inevitably be on the losing end. If your business hasn’t embraced this digital reality, there’s no better time to do so by starting with digitising your business processes – ease the transition by engaging experts like the Canon Business Services (CBS) team or implementing solutions like Canon’s ThereforeTM Document Management System to propel your company towards better levels of productivity and efficiency.
In all the above factors mentioned above, company leaders should always engage employees and stakeholders in all major decisions. This not only instills a sense of ownership but as Forbes claims, also helps to create an “atmosphere of trust”. Besides, more brains are always better than just one. Adopt the right mindset and make the incoming year a success. Here’s to a prosperous and fulfilling new year!
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