As we move through the first half of 2021 many of us will be feeling the need to spring clean or revamp, may it be our homes, gardens or lifestyle. But the spring cleaning notion can also extend to our working systems.

This is also emphasised by our move towards what has seemed so very far away, the potential relaxation of lockdown restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spring is the ideal opportunity to revaluate and reflect on what your company or your personal systems achieve, the aim should be to maximise the automation of day-to-day processes and minimise the risk of loss of data. 

We’ve listed below some key points to get the ball in motion, think of this as your checklist for spring:

1 Clear out the clutter
Remove and reduce your stored cache and cookies.

2 Update your passwords
The rise in cyber fraud and hacking means now more than ever a strong, unique password is vital.

3 Be alert to fraud!
Review your emailing whitelist, avoid unknown or suspicious links.

4 Two Stage Authentication
You may have already been asked to apply this on secure platforms or banks, but two stage authentication can be applied to much more.

5 Drive for digitalisation
Reduce your paper trail and lessen the worry of loss, damage or misplacement of paper records.

6 Make automation your right hand assistant
Speed up processes and reduce your administrative demand. There are many ways to help automate systems such as the invoice and expenses capturing apps, online invoicing and credit control.

7 Basic back-ups
This should be done frequently. In the same breath it’s also important to archive old information, free up working space and focus on the current detail.

8 Regular meetings
Whilst you may be ahead of the game or moving in the right direction it’s important to assess whether your staff/team share the same understanding. Regular and concise meetings on the above topics help to get everyone on the same boat, rowing in the same direction.

9

Prioritise and diarise the
important deadlines ahead

Setting reminders for key submission dates, tax payments or filing requirements means you can plan the run-up rather than the rush at the end.

10

Step back and breathe

An important reminder for every-
one is to allow yourself time away from your business. Not only does this help to reflect and refresh but our mental health directly impacts on our business structure. If you’re feeling stressed or over-
whelmed its likely your systems do to.

Simple tasks that we often take for granted can have a significant impact on the way our business functions, whilst you may be focused on the bigger picture these smaller jobs ultimately help to achieve our end goal in a more efficient and secure way.

A key phrase to reflect on is S.O.S. (Systems, Operations, Staff)

Don’t drown in all the admin, dust off the business basics and remember as we move through the year it’s important we keep moving forward.