Becoming Succession Ready: Operational efficiency: Dual Monitors

When preparing for practice succession, depending on your timeframe, it’s important to consider the overall efficiency of your practice.

Implementing dual monitors is a great place to start; if your staff is not using dual monitors, you may want to consider the merits of this investment.

As a guide, if your successor will be external to your practice and you have at least 12 months before you begin your succession journey, then there is likely a solid business case to invest in dual monitors for all your team members. Conversely, suppose your successor is likely to come from within your practice; you might have fewer concerns about investing for the future, assuming your internal successor is engaged in the process.

Dual monitors have been in the professional workplace for many years, but the number of firms with staff operating with one monitor is surprising. It is undeniable, given the amount of research available, as well as market acceptance, that dual monitors can provide real efficiency gains for your practice.

Using dual monitors can offer several benefits to your practice, including the following:

• Increased productivity/profitability: A study by the University of Utah in the US found that participants using dual monitors could complete tasks up to 44% faster than participants using a single monitor. This increased efficiency can lead to higher productivity, allowing accounting professionals to take on more work or complete tasks more quickly, potentially increasing profitability.
  

• Increased accuracy: A study (Jon Peddie Research) found that dual monitors can reduce errors by up to 33%. Accountants can view multiple applications or documents simultaneously, without needing to switch between them, which helps reduce mistakes and improve accuracy.
  

• Enhanced collaboration: Using dual monitors can lead to quantifiable levels of enhanced collaboration, improving communication, teamwork, and overall performance. While the specific level of improvement can vary depending on the accounting practice and tasks being performed, using dual monitors can significantly benefit collaboration and communication among accounting professionals.
  

• Reduced eye strain and fatigue: A study in the US (University of Utah) found that participants using dual monitors reported less eye strain and lower fatigue than those using single monitors. In this study, participants using dual monitors reported a 20% reduction in eye strain and a 12% reduction in fatigue compared to those using a single monitor.
  

• Job satisfaction: A study (Jon Peddie Research) found that using dual monitors can increase job satisfaction among professionals by up to 29%. Dual monitors can help improve productivity, reduce errors, and make tasks more enjoyable and less stressful for the staff.
  

Using dual monitors in your practice can lead to quantifiable benefits such as enhanced productivity and profitability, organisational accuracy, collaboration, and job satisfaction. These benefits can translate into higher valuation from a succession perspective and should be seriously considered as part of your succession-ready process.

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