Long gone are the days of working harder to get a job done well; today’s businesses needs more than just brute force and physical exertion to succeed and stay one step ahead of the competition, and that means working smarter. Smarter working means finding new and innovative ways to do a job or carry out a task; this could be cutting out one or more steps in a task, or saving time by doing something a completely different way.

Contrary to popular belief, working smarter doesn’t mean letting your workforce adopt the latest zany idea in a bid to save a little bit of time or money. Smarter decisions are made when the entire organization is pulling in the same direction, aiming for the same end goal.

There are a number of fantastic ways to get your staff to work smarter. Here are five of our favorites:

Engage and Inspire

As leader of your business, department or team, it’s your job to get your team on board and inspire them to help you. Explain to your team what smarter working means to you, and let them know why it’s important to the business.

Consider kicking off the new smarter way of working by employing the services of a top motivational speaker who will really set your work force on fire.

Encourage creative thought

You may be surprised how many big businesses still want their staff to act like robots – only ever doing what they’re told, when they’re told to do it. You might be even more surprised how many staff are actually happy for this to happen as it requires the minimum of thought and effort on their part.

Avoid this happening at all costs and encourage your staff to think about problems creatively, using methods that maybe haven’t been used before. Remind your team that a successful business is everyone’s responsibility.

Reward smarter initiatives

One way to encourage smarter working is to reward a job well done. People will naturally feel more motivated if they’re working towards a goal or prize, and you could even set up a bit of friendly inter-team competition to reward the team that finds the best and smartest way of working.

Appoint a working party

In order to spearhead your new smarter working initiative you’ll need to appoint a working party, who will manage the process and ensure things don’t get too crazy. Empower them to arrange ‘smarter’ meetings and follow through any good ideas to fruition.

Your working party should meet regularly to discuss actions and proposals, and keep a log of successful initiatives to review progress.

Break down old walls

One of the biggest barriers to smarter working is the fear of getting something wrong, or going against the tried and tested ways of doing things. Make sure every single member of your business knows that rules are there to be broken, and if they can prove there is a better way of doing something then they are empowered to change it.