It was my turn to Show and Tell at SVBG and the subject was Business Efficiency.
Wikipedia states:” Operational efficiency can be defined as the ratio between the input to run a business and the output gained from the business: I prefer “Return on investment”or ROI
The investment may take the form of money, labour, time or indeed lifestyle choices.
The return may be monetary, lifestyle improvement or plain old job satisfaction

In some businesses a fluffy “experience rich” environment with coffee and compliments on tap are the way to go. Say, a fashion house.
In some it may be huge investments of money, labour, etc, eg Jaguar Landrover.
In mine – and I’m sure a lot of you, it is a bit of money, and time spent carefully evaluating any new move in the light of my expected ROI

So how can businesses become more efficient?
Outsourcing.
Stick to what you are good at, enjoy and make money from. This is where most of us make our living by convincing others that our outsourced offering will improve their efficiency.
Joined up thinking.
Making sure everyone involved in an enterprise is clued up on what is expected of them, how they will achieve this and also aware of how others fit in the jigsaw.
Accept that things go wrong.
If its you at fault say so and get on with fixing it. If its someone else’s fault accept this and move forward towards resolution. This was neatly put by a business hero of mine: Digby Jones. SUMO…
Shut Up Move On.

The above outline led to a 35 minute discussion with all attendees contributing, possibly showing this to be a subject close to everyones heart, wallet and sanity. Perhaps worth a revisit in the future?