Start Small To Gain Efficiency

While looking for solutions to become more efficient, it's always best to start small.  Sure, you want to locate large things that you'll be able to resolve and look like a superstar when you do it, but beginning small will help and it'll also make the changes simpler to contend with.  It is always best to start with yourself, looking at the way you do things to see if there are any improvements that could be made. 
When you make your own improvements and see what works and what doesn’t and what helps and what makes things worse, it's time to expand your circle of change. You can take the changes that work to the head of the department, maybe that is you, and look at making the changes through the entire department.  On a larger scale, the changes should make more of an impact, especially since you have already run you tests and shown that the changes work.  You will get resistance; it never fails, because men and women do not like change.  
Change is hard and takes individuals out of their comfort zone.  But it is often necessary to get to the next level, and those that see that will have an advantage over the ones that are reluctant.  Here’s a thing to think about when making a change though, you want to be sure that the change helps in the first place but doesn’t make it worse or harder for anybody else.  It is not fair for anybody to have their job made easier because it takes work away from somebody else.  
So it is very important look at how any changes not only affect you and your department, but those around you.  Once it's determined that there is no negative effects, then it is alright to proceed.  Now, you already know that there will be some push back from the people that have to make the changes and live with the changes, but this might also be a good opportunity to get them on your side.  You can easily do this by asking them their opinions and addressing their concerns.  
The worse thing that you can do is to dismiss their concerns out of hand and treat them like children.  Telling them that they have to make the changes because you said so is about the worst way that you can handle the decision, and it is likely that you wouldn’t do that based on the fact that you are in a position of authority.