Time Management Tips to Fast Track Salon Growth
Salon owners often have a heavy workload, especially if they are running a team while handling their own column of clients.
Quality salon work requires total focus on what’s in front of you. You can’t daydream nor make a mental list of what you need to pick up on your way home as you service a client. You have to be on, day in and day out. Because the demands of being a salon owner can ebb and flow depending on the hour, day, week, month or season, it’s especially important for you to be aware of how you manage your time.
1. Plan Your Day
Time spent planning is not time wasted. Understanding what needs to be done and planning how to achieve it will have a massive return on investment. However, don’t plan for every moment of your day – leave time for dealing with unexpected tasks and for adapting to interruptions and changing priorities.
2. Communicate
Effective communication is often one of the first things to go when a salon owner is struggling to manage their own time. You should always take the time to listen, understand and explain to avoid misunderstandings. Managing a team relies so heavily on communication that you absolutely must check in regularly with your team.
3. Take Breaks
It can be tempting to skip your breaks when you have a big workload. However, depriving yourself of proper nutrition just means your concentration can suffer later in the day and make you less efficient. Taking breaks is especially important for salon owners with teams as they need to set an example for others. Otherwise it might be implied that taking a break means lack of commitment.
4. Delegate Work
Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should. If you’re under pressure, think about what tasks you can delegate. This can include the tasks you enjoy doing. Effective delegation empowers your team to work independently and confidently. Team members who are not given responsibility will be more needy and require more of your precious time. Making sure everyone has the training and resources to do their jobs will make life easier all around.
5. Keep Up Appearances
If all else fails, make sure you appear to your team to be on top of your time management, even if you’re not. It’s vital that your team feels they can approach you for help and guidance. If you give the impression of being too busy to be approached, you risk not being made aware of important issues.
6. Dealing With Interruptions
The natural reaction is to deal with an issue immediately, but the disturbance to your working day may not be worth it. If you find interruptions frustrating, then consider a time sensitive open/shut door policy: people can come to you with issues only during certain times of the day. Teach yourself conversation closers: polite ways of firmly ending a conversation that threatens to drag on.
7. Know What To Do If It Gets Too Much
Pressure can be a great motivator, especially when you know you can get everything done by just organizing yourself a bit more and working a bit harder. But if your workload gets to be so much that you just can’t manage your time, then you must take whatever steps are needed to correct this, or you run the danger of burnout.
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