Year on year businesses aim to improve their practices and increase their productivity levels so that they are able to do more with the same resources. Whilst some businesses take the route of pushing their staff to work longer hours and faster, successful businesses utilise productivity tools and technology.
Below are some of the ways professionals can use technology to help boost their productivity.
Project management tools can help increase productivity, however, if they are not well-designed, user adoption will be limited, and the tool will be ineffective. With Jira, employees can ensure that work is delivered on time, there is clear transparency on the status of a project, with tools supporting them to enable them to ensure the project’s success.
As remote teams grow in popularity, task management software like Jira helps to streamline projects. As staff are no longer working together in the same office, software programs will need to be easy to use and display clear progress of tasks and projects so that there is the transparency.
Clear transparency will mean that anyone can pick up the project with a clear outline from where it was left off, regardless of where they are in the world. Jira gives admins a bird’s-eye view of everything going on with their teams so they can stay organised. And, it gives team members a clear set of tasks to achieve.
Nearly 80% of IT professionals say that moving to the cloud helped improve their efficiency. Complex VPNs and virtual machines are reliable when the IT team are on hand to mitigate any issues, however, when teams are scatted all away across the globe, VPN connections aren’t always reliable and can prevent employees from accessing files if the network is not secure enough. JIRA allows everything to be stored in one place and easily accessed, regardless of location or device used.
Employees rely on a core set of functional applications, day in and day out. Microsoft uses artificial intelligence to streamline the user experience, reducing redundancy and repetitive tasks. The AI in Microsoft applications has resulted in a dramatic drop in the time it takes to complete tasks.
SharePoint and OneDrive allow students and colleagues to access files and shared folders regardless of where they are. Another benefit of using Microsoft’s cloud hosting services is that applications auto-save your documents as you create them, removing the risk of your computer crashing and losing all your work.
Office 365 features a pool of collaboration products, including Yamma, Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. These programmes complement each other and make collaboration easy. Whether you need to meet, share files, chat online or check company updates, it is all in one place.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, web conferencing is something that has boomed in popularity. There are dozens of benefits to this form of meetings, from a global reach and connection with remote workers to reducing travel times and increasing attendance.
Web conferencing also enables real-time collaboration. With a strong internet connection, multiple employees can open, edit and annotate a document together – reducing the time spent constructing long email chains of edited and reedited documents.
Previously most computers shared files via a private and secure local access network (LAN). Since agile working has boomed, increasingly more companies are moving over to intranets and extranets. These networks allow endless computers to connect all across the globe.
By moving over to a shared network, employees no longer have to email colleagues requesting they share files, likewise, they don’t have to waste time retrieving and emailing colleagues. When a file is needed, wherever the employee is based, they can simply access it via the shared network.
Reliable monitors help employees power through their day and large monitors allow employees to see more on the screen. Putting information in an employee’s field of view, allows them to work faster and resolve problems in less time.
Employees spend around a third of their lives in front of a computer screen and whilst a laptop has portability benefits, monitors are much larger and desktop stands allow users to position their screens at an optimal viewing experience.
Whilst some employees see Bill Gates’ three monitor desk set up as overkill, others look at it with complete envy. Mazzanti technologies ran an experiment that found that increasing the number of monitors on a desk directly increased productivity. “Adding a second monitor meant an instant 20 to 30 per cent increase in productivity,” said Mazzanti. “For every monitor we added after that, we’ve seen a three to five per cent improvement. You may be able to get a 50 to 65 percent bump in productivity overall.”
As most manufacturers favor a minimalist design on their devices, there is often a limited number of ports available on a device, and the number is decreasing for new releases. This can cause issues and add barriers to the workday. Docking stations are creative solutions that transform a tablet or laptop into a complete desktop solution.
Docking stations facilitate the connection of multiple peripherals, and employees can seamlessly enter into video meetings, rather than having to fiddle with webcam and microphone cables, swapping them in for the keyboard and mouse.
USB-C docking stations allow users to transfer video, data, and power with only on cable. Employees can embrace agile working with screen extension via docking stations. They are no longer tied to one workspace, instead, they are free to work from anywhere without sacrificing productivity.
The changing world has enabled and encouraged hybrid working, in fact, 84% of workers who use a laptop report an increase in workplace productivity, saying they get more work done as a result of having a more flexible device.
Combining your mobile laptop with a comprehensive desktop solution couples the benefits of a laptop with the productivity of a stationed desktop.
Converting your paper files into digital files can reduce wasted time managing documents. Employees waste hours of time at work filing, sorting and retrieving paper files, they actually spend 50% of their work time searching for documents.
Document scanners help collaboration, through cloud-based storage. Rather than paper documents taking up space in an office and being hard to find, scanned documents can be easily accessed and shared among the team, increasing productivity, and becoming more environmentally responsible in the process. Smart scanners can actually read documents as they are scanned and upload them directly into the correct file online.
With a strong internet connection, tasks can be completed faster. Documents can be downloaded and re-uploaded to the cloud with ease and video communications run seamlessly without lag or pixelation, giving the experience that you are truly talking face-to-face. Collaboration is also encouraged as multiple employees can edit a document in real-time regardless of where they are in the world.
A strong Wi-Fi router not only empowers employees to complete their tasks quicker but also encourages agile working. If there is a strong Wi-Fi connection in places of work, employees have the freedom to easily move between workspaces and meeting spaces, rather than needing to be wired into a modem.
Productivity technology can greatly improve business processes. After all, people are a business’s greatest asset. While this list of productivity technology, tools or software will help all businesses a bit, it’s important to consider which ones will make the greatest impact for you. If you need help deciding what productivity technology will be best for your business, our team are here to help!
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