Productivity is a result of proper planning, time management, commitment to excellence, and focused tasks.
Most salon owners have unstructured booking systems that lead to overbooking customers. Moreover, which impacts day-to-day operations and takes much more time than usual, resulting in increased stress levels.
Here, having a structured plan helps schedule bookings with a period of rest. So, if any uncertain situation arises, the owner has adequate time to deal with it. Salon online booking Software is the key to managing a greater number of tasks in a scheduled time. For example, tracking employees’ working hours, simplifying the appointment booking process, and lowering the number of no-shows, etc.
Time management is the process to plan and control time among different tasks. Good time management aids to complete deadlines and manage tight schedules. By accomplishing all the tasks on time, salon owners open up to more opportunities and enabling them to make more profits.
Following are the detailed ways to manage time effectively and help gain more minutes to provide services in a day.
Tricks to manage time and enhance the productivity of the salon
1. Plan the routine tasks
Firstly, before performing any task, the owner should make a plan for the whole day and set the goals to be achieved. Without proper planning, the owner is not able to get success which results in time wastage. And, occupied with a lot of tasks, owners forget to achieve the goals of the beauty salon.
Effective scheduling is the key to running the task smoothly with proper time management. When daily tasks are done according to the plan, the owner can concentrate on the long-term goals.
2. Stay focused on salon and spa operations
Are distractions draining the productivity of the employees?
The answer to this question is yes. While working in the salon, employees get distracted by a lot of things. For example looking at mobile phones, chit-chatting and gossiping, checking notifications on social media handles, etc. These distractions reduce productivity and take a long time to refocus again. Therefore, stay away from the things that make you distracted and create hurdles in goal accomplishment.
3. Automate the booking process
Handling a customer’s booking process over the call is one of the most time-consuming tasks. So, why not automate salon processes with salon booking software?
The deployment of salon software is the best way to book appointments easily within a couple of minutes. It not only deals with booking appointments online. But, it also helps in inventory management, recording customer information, and making the customer experience better. Facilitating increased efficiency of all the tasks, saving a lot of time.
4. Cluster similar tasks into groups
The best way to perform the salon tasks seamlessly is to batch all the operations which are of similar nature in different categories. The time management technique helps to manage the time to perform the tasks with a due date.
So, before rushing to perform the task as per the list. Firstly, the owner must review whether there is any alternative way to categorize further that brings more efficiency.
5. Prioritize the lineup schedules
Salon owners should prioritize each task appropriately as per the schedule. Every task requires different attention to perform and has a distinct set of importance. Therefore, the utmost important tasks need to be accomplished immediately. After completing the deadline, the owner can start with the next task.
6. Delegate tasks to the staff well
Delegation does not mean the owner overloads all the tasks on the employees. It’s the responsibility of the manager to look at which work is performed by whom as per the skills of the employees. Delegating the work to the team members helps to manage the working hours more efficiently and effectively.
7. Invest in Salon Management Software
Digitizing your salon, however, makes all the tasks easy to perform. Salon software helps to improve time management and thus creates brand awareness.
This software automates a wide range of tasks such as booking appointments, customer feedback, point of sale, accepting online payments, and running marketing campaigns, etc. Therefore, it helps to provide a better quality of products and services.
8. Create an effective cancellation policy
The owner cannot control canceled services by the client and that creates a mess in the whole schedule.
One of the best tips for time management in salons is to Create an effective cancellation policy.
The reason for establishing this policy is to reduce cancellations and no-shows. It states to the customers at what time period, cancellation of services is possible and charges the late cancellation fees with every canceled booking.
9. Time off for employees
Taking adequate breaks helps employees to do their tasks well without any fatigue. However, it leads to enhanced work productivity as well as less time wastage. Moreover, even when employees are relaxing, they’ll have sufficient time to prepare for the next task.Â
10. Make rota for the salon
Making the schedule for the employees gives the idea of whether the staff is available for the services or not.
Staff rota consists of mentioned information like name of the employee, responsibility, working hours, appointment booked and availability, etc. The main concern is to maintain the rota that tracks the employees’ hourly rates, staff availability, etc. Therefore, it helps to improve time management by creating the staff rota.
11. Learn when politely to say ‘No’
Every salon owner thinks saying ‘Yes’ to things builds the salon’s reputation and also the owner’s name comes into the good books in the eyes of the customers. But, owners have to learn to say ‘No’ to some things which suck up the overall booking schedule. The owner can politely say to the customers when they don’t have the time to do the task.
12. Stop procrastinatingÂ
It’s the habit of human nature to avoid and delay tasks. Procrastinating affects the overall success and growth of the salon business. Owners may find themselves delayed in paying bills, crediting salary to the employee’s account, marketing campaigns, providing any special beauty treatment, etc which affects the salon’s reputation. Getting more organized and scheduling tasks is the best way to avoid procrastination. So that all the tasks of the salon can be done on time.
13. Eliminate unproductive work method
It’s the duty of the salon owner to find out the unproductive work patterns which affect the efficiency of the salon and replace them with better options.
Common problems hindering time management are inefficient booking process, not conducting a regular meeting with the staff members, unnecessary breaks taken by the employees, etc. To solve these issues, the owner must integrate the salon software, and conduct regular meetings to manage the employees better.
Final thought
Outstanding time management skills help tackle salon tasks on time. The salon owner can effectively improve time management through better planning, using salon management software, prioritizing the schedule, avoiding distractions, etc. Therefore, it builds better management and creates an outstanding customer experience.
Are you a salon owner and facing difficulty in managing your time effectively and efficiently?
The best solution is to use salon software that aids to manage and provide better results within the time frame. With good time management, when all the tasks are done efficiently and effectively. Then, salon owners have enough time to see other aspects to grow the beauty business.
Author – Julia Ching has been a Manager at Salonist since 2017. Her passion for helping people in business management is through the expert industry coverage she provides. Follow her on Facebook and Instagram for the latest posts.
