In a single day, a Salesforce Admin handles a large volume of tasks, ranging from building custom objects that help businesses achieve their goals, to resetting passwords for their users. They are responsible for validation rules, automations, objects management, reports, system permissions, and much more.
Admins are both planners and problem-solvers – the all-star admin, in particular, is a productivity hero. But consistent productivity is difficult to achieve. Having highs and lows is completely normal and natural. The question is: what practices can admins develop to improve their overall productivity and achieve good results, even in their “low” stages?
Foolproof Productivity Tips for Salesforce Admins:
1. Remove all distractions
This is the golden productivity rule!
If you realize you’re constantly interrupted by non-urgent calls and messages, you should turn off unnecessary notifications while you work. Also, to help guide your focus, you can close all of the tabs which are not needed in your browser.
There are apps and chrome extensions available, like Salesforce Inspector or ORGanizer for Salesforce, which can be useful for productivity.
2. See how each task fits into the bigger picture
Your career as an admin is founded on your technical skills and knowledge, but when you rely on those skills to solve daily issues, it’s easy to forget about your role as a professional in the entire organization. Each task, no matter how small or big it is, impacts business processes, the user, and the entire organization.
When you develop the habit of seeing how an individual task affects the bigger picture, you realize what is more important, and then can better prioritize.
3. Measure your achievements
As a Salesforce agent, you’re always building dashboards and reports for your bosses and clients. You know how to quantify performance, so implement that skill by measuring your own productivity.
You can create a dashboard for all packages, apps, licenses, and other details. This will not only help you answer some questions you get from your executives, but will also keep you updated on your own performance.
4. Speed up your tools and apps
When admins get a request to solve a particular issue, they have to do it ASAP. A well-working computer, software, and browser are major productivity factors in such situations.
To avoid any delays and frustration with slow devices, you should regularly free up disk space by uninstalling unnecessary files and removing malware. You’ll find effective tips on how to clear disk space here.
5. Create reusable training instructions
New Salesforce users need instructions, and it’s the admin’s job to provide them. If you create short videos or detailed documents that demonstrate how to perform common tasks, you’ll save yourself a lot of time in the long run.
You can also create quick training videos on how to handle infrequent tasks, as well as video series for complex tasks. Then, when you deal with the same need for training in the future, you’ll be able to use the resources you already have. The larger your organization is, the more useful these reusable instructions become.
6. Take breaks!
Staying productive in the long term is not just about completing tasks on time, it’s also about taking breaks when you need them. You work long hours, and if you don’t break up the work with brief sessions of rest for your body and mind, you’ll likely hit the burnout stage.
This doesn’t mean you should take 15-minute breaks after each 30-minute working session, it means you should take a few brief, but consistent breaks throughout the day. Use that time to have a snack, some coffee/water, stretch, or take a quick stroll around the block.
7. Keep learning
Salesforce is consistently updating and changing. As a pro in the field, you’ve already embraced and learned to love those changes – you understand that you’re in a continual state of learning as you grow as an admin.
Your Salesforce configuration will eventually need a fundamental change, which will demand more work. To stay productive throughout those challenges, it’s important to keep learning on a daily basis and recognize the need for a major change early on.
Community resources are great! The vibrant community in the niche is your greatest source of knowledge. Choose a few from the countless podcasts, blogs, and YouTube channels, and use them to build on your skills.
Summary
No matter what your achievements are at the moment, there’s always room to get more productive. You can start by focusing on the most important tasks by eliminating distractions, speeding up your devices, and developing habits that make you more productive in the long run.
The important thing is to focus, develop an action plan, and take practical steps towards a more effective working practice!