The new year is a time to renew and restructure. And many times, that means letting go of stale business practices and any roadblocks that stifle productivity.
To determine what entrepreneurs are leaving behind in 2014 in order to move forward, we consulted with seven entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC).
Q. What is one business practice you look forward to discontinuing at the close of 2014? Why?
1. Slow-to-Return Phone Calls
I would like to slowly but surely transition the bulk of my business communication to digital outlets -- email, text, tweet, etc. I feel like speaking on the phone is quickly being outdated. When I receive a call from someone and I'm not there to answer it, it lives on my phone forever it seems. I would like to keep following up with people in a speedy way, but on a completely digital platform. – Rob Fulton, Exponential Black
2. Meetings
Sure, there are organizations that meetings work for, but for most they are an absolute time-suck. They are also such a fixture in the business world that we insist on having them anyway. We bore our employees and ourselves, and waste everyone's time. There are much more efficient ways to facilitate collaboration and communication. I'm definitely looking forward to getting rid of meetings. – Brian Honigman, BrianHonigman.com
3. Unclear Standards and Protocol
This next year, all conflicts will be resolved quickly, efficiently, and respectfully. This will be accomplished through very clear company standards and protocol for conflict resolution. When people aren't up to standard, they will know it. The goal is more accountability, less noise and time spent after the fact vs. taking the time to face it and break through with a proven process. – Jake Kloberdanz, ONEHOPE Inc.
4. Overused Data
While detailed analytics have helped us build a healthy, growing, and profitable business, relying so heavily on data causes us to forget about valuable intangibles which boost every team member's overall happiness and performance. We'll continue referencing metrics and KPIs, but will avoid overemphasizing their importance. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep
5. An Unstructured Hiring Process
In a startup, sometimes you urgently need to hire people that you compromise on your screening or search for talent. This usually comes back to hurt you as you hire someone who either doesn't fit the culture or the role. Making sure that you take your time to screen candidates and check references is very important. – Randy Rayess, VenturePact
6. Lack of Flexibility
We moved headquarters in 2014, a challenge that was absolutely necessary for maintaining our growth trajectory. Right now, I would happily agree to never relocate again! Weekly standing meetings are also very tough to coordinate when all of our team members and executive team are traveling constantly. We have to master the art of flexibility. – Mina Chang, Linking the World
7. Commuting
We've made the move to sell our office space and go remote, and we couldn't be happier about it. We've given employees everything they need to work from home and found them to be much more productive. Without commuting, employees have more time and energy to get their work done without the added stress of getting ready and driving to an office. – Brooke Bergman, Allied Business Network, Inc.
