Here is a typical scenario for must business owners; you need all your employees at a big meeting or participate in a conference call. Obviously this means nobody is going to be at their desks for several hours.  At this point you are at a dilemma because the meeting is as important as the work that can’t be done because your employees will be at the meeting.

You can address this by following the tips below and make it less of a problem.  With the right blend of improved efficiency, automated work, and using technology, you will be able to hold meetings while still being productive.

Efficiency

1. Examine your processes. There are daily tasks that you may be able to set aside.  As you find them, you can divide these tasks into what is necessary and what isn’t, and eliminate those that are not. No matter how you may feel all are important, take a closer look at each and every one of them and you will be able to classify them accordingly.
2. Determine what things you are capable of doing, and what requires more than one set of hands or mind.  Talk to your employees about what they can do in order to simplify projects. In the end, there’s never a better substitute for team work.
3. Take breaks. Although this seems opposite of what you expected to make this list but sometimes you need to walk away from your work.  In one of the article by Forbes, it states that the human body slows down its effort to break down fat in your bloodstream to create energy.  Therefore, the longer you sit, the less energy you will have.
4. Schedule your day around lunch. If you find yourself with more energy in the morning, use that time to do more mentally-taxing work when you first arrive.  It is better to do things like reports or spreadsheets while you have the energy for it.  Then, after lunch, shift your focus to things that involve interaction and collaboration, like meetings or conference calls.
5. Make a list. Prioritize tasks and lay out how much time each will take you. Every time you mark an item completed, you will be able to determine what parts of the day you are most efficient.

Automation

1. Automate your social media posts. There are many ways to do this, so it should not be a problem finding something that works for you.  A more popular social media app and tool like Hootsuite is a good option but there are also others out there to make use of. Dlvr.it allows users to sync their social media accounts.  If you have a blog, Buffer will allow you to write posts at your own convenience but schedule them to post in a specific manner, such as a certain time every workday.
2. Create templates for frequently used documents. You can create templates in your word processing software that will allow you to simply enter the data required and it will fill out things like invoices or standard form letters and emails.
3. Share online calendars in the Cloud. Meetings can be time consuming but even finding time that works for all your employees also takes time.  By putting your plans into an online calendar, both colleagues and clients will be informed of your obligations and will know when you are reachable. This is a good way to carry everyone along in the workplace.
4. Automate follow-ups with customers and similar tasks. When you review your processes, you might notice that there are some tasks that repeat often and become a time drain.  Many of these tasks can be automated, and won’t take more than a half hour to set up. The world is digitally driven as it is right now. It would totally be wrong if you are not making use of such automation services for your business.
5. Create “canned” email replies for electronic enquires that require the same response over and over. You can copy and paste rather than waste time typing the same information repeatedly or even create one FAQ document or page on your website to provide to employees and clients, so that they have a reference in-hand and you won’t repeat yourself as often. To help relate to this, think of all the times you would have to reply emails that almost relate to the same topic or question. By making a FAQ available, your colleagues would know not to bother you with questions or emails that they can readily get from the FAQ.

Technology

1. Make and share checklists in the Cloud. This way you can share them and have them while you are on the go.  Forgett allows you to decide what is made public and what only you see, and will even allow you to use animated gifs.  Checkli has comparable features and can be used to create PDF versions of any list.
2. Learn and use macros (otherwise known as shortcuts). Microsoft Word and similar programs have built-in automated features that allow users to automatically perform routine tasks. You can even create and customize them.  Some you may already be familiar with (like hitting control-i for italics).  Once you familiarize yourself with them, you will save time as you type.  Microsoft Office has a support page to walk you through creating macros.  Save this information as a document and pass it along to your employees to help them type more efficiently also.
3. When learning how to make a template in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, look first at what Office has to say. If you are looking for a way to collaborate with your team, try sourcing for the right information online on this subject.
4. Streamline billing and invoicing with accounting software. You don’t need to manually create invoices for clients that you charge the same amount every month for the same services.  There is software that will generate these for you. By doing this, you will save yourself and your business enough time to do other productive things. You will be surprised how much such little things play out generally.
5. Utilize the labels, folders, and tags that are in your email inbox. This will help you sort and organize your incoming messages.  It will help you quickly find the messages that are most important and allow you to quickly receive the messages you need.

Meetings are vital to your business, and it is better to go into them knowing that you and your employees won’t be overwhelmed with all the work waiting for you when you get back to your desks. Utilizing some or all of the tips in this article will allow you to cut back on daily administrative tasks to allow you to focus on larger discussions going on in your meetings.