Pub. 2 2013 Issue 1

22 San Diego Dealer So what time management ideas can you implement at your dealer- ship? Here are 10 easy tips that can save you valuable time, starting with e-mail management: 1. Create rules for your e-mail inbox. Rules can automatically move less urgent e-mail to folders you can create, such as News or Suppliers, where you can quickly deal with those messages once a day. You can also keep track of e-mails you regularly delete without reading, and you can code certain e-mail as junk mail. 2. Read e-mail during specified times during the day. When you turn your attention to e-mail, close your door so you don’t have to rereadmessages if you're interrupted. Respond immediately, if possible, or move the e-mail to a To Do folder and follow up later. 3. Keep a “zero-inbox” policy for yourself. After reading e-mail, do somethingwith it immediately—whether that's deleting it or moving it to a folder. This leaves your inbox empty andminimizes second and third looks at many messages. 4. Train your staff to Cc you on their e-mail. When appropriate, have themdo this instead of including you as a primary recipient. This allows you to read and delete messages and frees you from needing to respond. 5. Finish your month-end close in one, two, or three days. The longer its open, the more it intrudes into other work. Change hours for critical employees for this rapid close. This way they will be able to finish the task andmove onmore quickly. Any overtime costs should be made up by future, smooth-running workdays. 6. Create a list of duties for each staff member. This will eliminate the need for people to search for the right place to bring a task. Have the list at each desk and posted on the wall. 10 Tips to Improve Dealership Processes— and Your Bottom Line By Sid Tobiason, Partner, Automotive & Dealer Services Practice, Moss Adams LLP A t a recent conference for dealership CFOs, controllers, and owners, we discussed many elements that affect an organization's processes—and thus its bottom line. For many in the audience, time management quickly became the focal point, and mundane tasks such as sifting through e-mails, prioritizing them, and reading them seemed to be near the top of everyone’s list of major consumers of time.