July 26, 2012

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Entrepreneurs are in essence, thinkers, visionaries, and creators, but they also are managers, leaders, and delegators.

Each of these roles are embodied and performed at various stages of business development – but they are there and they do demand attention.

Considering this reality, entrepreneurs have an evolving list of duties and responsibilities as they hatch ideas, put them into action, and eventually build their team around them. At each stage, workflow needs to be managed effectively or you’ll run the risk of inefficiency and missed opportunities.

Managing Workflow and Communication

As a small business owner, the last thing you want is to be inefficient and as a result, miss out on an opportunity.

Therefore, one of the most essential skills to develop as an entrepreneur is becoming a pro at managing your workflow. This includes time management, the ability to prioritize, appropriate delegation (when that time comes), and a great deal of drive to constantly improve ways of operating.

Although the details change of what your duties consist of throughout the lifecycle of your business, certain elements remain the same: your writing is required everywhere. In reports, in proposals, in correspondence, in marketing, and in company messages, your written word is a constant and successful entrepreneurs must become efficient in managing this part of the workflow.

Your writing is required across the board in the earlier stages, and then slowly transitions to correspondence and simple note-taking as managing and delegation of tasks becomes a larger part of your experience. With that said, there are three things that can help, both in the early and later stages, to manage your workflow: (1) talk to text, (2) formality expectations, and (3) conscious correspondence.

1. Talk to Text

There are few things in tech that get me more excited than talk to text functionality. Why? It directly impacts efficiency.

It allows users to type their stream of consciousness putting ideas to paper at a quicker, less restrictive pace. With talk to text, entrepreneurs can draft their written work with greater ease and write emails much quicker.

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