Trying to cope with recurring back-office challenges like accounting discrepancies, payroll deadlines and off-the-cuff data entry tasks can drain even the bravest of souls of the fortitude required to run a successful business. There are a lot of factors beyond these that can hamper your back-office efficiency. These out of sight, ‘not-so-important’ tasks can actually make or break the organizational flow, employee satisfaction and even the profitability of your business.
Its not all doom and gloom for small teams with minimal back office support though. Properly managed back-office activities and well-defined administrative procedures can boost your organizational efficiency without breaking the bank!
Here is a little known fact.
Back-office operations consume nearly 50% of the entire operational costs of any business.
The evolving requirements for back-office activities can involve both simple tasks such as data entry or complex tasks such as bookkeeping and accounting.
For smaller teams with limited in-house resources, remote teams can be the perfect fit – both in terms of cost and feasibility.
Here is another little known fact.
Most business owners know that you can delegate back-office functions such as data entry or scheduling. What most business owners may not know is that remote back-office teams can also handle a whole host of functions that they may not have considered. Here are a few of these little known functions your back office team can handle remotely
Data enrichment
When the data is accessed and used by multiple people, it may lead to duplication of entries and things can get out of hand. In such situations, your remote team can help you maintain the efficacy of your data via data scrubbing and enrichment. A recent study found that approximately 30 percent of an organization’s data becomes obsolete by the end of the year due to rapid changes in the information that both companies and employees require. Remote teams can be helpful in managing data decay overtime to free up space for data storage as well.
Data extraction
You never know which data you may require at any point in your strategic business implementations. Important data helps you make key decisions for your business. Data extraction can be tricky especially if your in-house team does not know how to find the relevant data that you need, when you need it. In addition, you may also need to ensure data safety if your business requires the care and handling of big clusters of sensitive data.
Remote teams can be of help here as they well-trained to find what you need using necessary tools like Import.io, Scraper API, Octoparse, Diffbot, Data Streamer to name a few. All these tools are beneficial for extracting data from your cloud storage system. This way, your team wastes less time in the navigation and integration of data and more time utilizing the data to grow your business.
Data imaging
Data collection is no longer restricted to a single platform or device. When data is collected from multiple input points such as forms, receipts, paper documents, images across a set of devices, you need a centralized system to manage the entire process. Most modern businesses rely on electronic formats for data for easy operations and access. The actual struggle starts when there is a mix of paper and electronic data that needs to be reconciled. Your remote teams has expertise in the data imaging process and can help your business preserve, organize and utilize such data using the latest technology. Tools like Apache Storm, Apache Spark, Rapid Miner are great for handling batch as well as real time data which can be beneficial if your business involves processing raw data on a frequent basis.
Directory services
A company that has just started or expanded into a new industry will need to manage a lot of new information. If you are dealing with key-decision makers as on a regular basis you will be managing the necessary details of those people as well. Remote teams can help you manage basic information like contact details, email address, designation and the name of the stakeholders.
Getting a remote back-office team can benefit you in unexpected ways. Look beyond regular service offerings to get the most out of your remote back-office team to ensure you are getting your money’s worth!