It’s about time you explored how AI, and specifically ChatGPT, can transform the way you work, save you time, streamline processes and, ultimately, give you the time and space for what’s important.
ChatGPT has the potential to liberate you from time-consuming admin. These are things you would describe as mundane, tedious and not very value-adding, particularly if they are tasks you don’t do very often. For example, when was the last time you had to:
- write a job description and ad for a role
- write a policy or procedure for a new starter in an organisation
- develop a presentation or proposal from scratch
- handle a client complaint
- plan an event?
All of these infrequent tasks take up a huge amount of time when you do them only on rare occasions, particularly if you are starting from scratch. They are difficult to delegate because you don’t do them very often, so it’s easier and quicker to just do them yourself.
“The quality of your content will be a direct result of the prompts you provide.”
ChatGPT has provided us with a tool to get through mundane tasks. A tool to clean our slate of repetitive, uninteresting and demotivating work that must be done. It helps do the stuff that prevents us from doing higher-value work or keeps us from our families and the things for which we work.
Business benefits of ChatGPT
Here are the top five ways ChatGPT can revolutionise your business.
1. The virtual human resources administrator
The administrative elements of recruiting a new staff member can be time consuming and tedious. They can include everything from generating a job description to preparing interview questions.
With ChatGPT, you can quickly and easily generate the documentation required in a matter of minutes.
Example prompts:
- Create a job description for an EA incorporating changes to work since 2019, including virtual, hybrid and any other technologies relevant to being an EA for a small-business owner.
- Write a brief for a recruitment agency using the above job description.
- Provide recommendations for interview questions for this role.
2. The virtual personal assistant
As a small-business owner myself, there have been times when I wished I had an assistant to help me with my day-to-day admin, leaving me free for more high-value activities, like managing client relationships, winning new work and engaging with my stakeholders.
I would have them doing things such as:
Drafting emails: Writing effective emails can be challenging and time consuming, especially when you need to communicate important information or make a good impression. ChatGPT can help you with suggestions for how to word an email, how to structure it and how to sign off.
- Example prompt: Write a professional email to my client requesting a meeting to discuss our recent project.
Proofreading: Whether it’s an article like this, a presentation or a proposal, our documents need to be as error-free as possible. ChatGPT can review and correct grammar and spelling errors in text.
- Example prompt: Proofread this report to ensure that it is free of spelling and grammatical errors.
Starting: When it comes to beginning just about anything, it can be challenging just to get those first few words into a document, proposal or presentation. Tell ChatGPT what you need (even vaguely) and see what it suggests. It may be just the inspiration you need to get going.
- Example prompt: I need to write a proposal to a new client – how would you suggest I structure it?
3. The virtual brainstormer
This can help you get started on your work faster and avoid wasting time on ideas that might not be feasible or relevant.
Not all the ideas ChatGPT generates will be winners (ust like when people brainstorm). Some of the ideas might not be relevant to your project or might not be feasible to implement. That’s why it’s important to use your own judgement and critical thinking skills to evaluate the ideas and decide which ones are worth pursuing.
Example prompts:
- What are some ways that we can improve employee engagement and morale in our workplace?
- Can you suggest some team-building activities that we can do virtually?
- One of our biggest clients has expressed dissatisfaction with our services – how can we address their concerns and improve our relationship with them?
4. The virtual ghost writer
As a writer, I personally find this the most useful aspect, particularly when it comes to getting started.
It not only saves time but also has the potential to produce high-quality content. It’s useful to remember, however, the adage of rubbish in, rubbish out. The quality of your content will be a direct result of the prompts you provide.
For example, you’re working on a business proposal, and you’re struggling to find the appropriate words to convey your message effectively. You could spend hours agonising over the right structure, style and opening, or you could use ChatGPT to generate content for you. Don’t forget to give it some specific context before using these prompts.
Example prompts:
- Write a summary of our new product.
- Compose an email to our clients about our upcoming event.
- Draft a presentation on the benefits of our services.
5. The virtual researcher
Ask it to generate a quick summary or explanation of the latest trends and developments in your industry. It’s a great way to stay informed and make better decisions for your business.
Example prompts:
- Research the impact of remote work on employee productivity and job satisfaction, and provide me with a summary of the findings.
- I’m interested in learning more about the latest trends in e-commerce. Research this topic and provide me with a report on your findings.
- Research the market potential for a new product idea I have, including potential demand, target audience and competition.
These five things will get you started, and there is a lot more to be gained by having a deeper dive into how AI can help. Speak to your website developer about how you could incorporate an AI-based chatbot to respond to frequently asked questions. There are also organisations that are creating ‘virtual workmates’ that can do time-consuming data entry faster and more accurately than people, freeing up valuable resources for the more value-adding work that only humans can do.
We are at the beginning of a major change in our ways of working. Don’t be left behind.
This article first appeared in issue 42 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
