Improving productivity with technology is the key aspect of completing projects sooner and keeping your customers happier. Technology, efficiency and productivity go hand in hand. Continue reading to find out how can technology by used to enhance productivity in your business.
Recently, the company behind the well-known bookkeeping and accounting platform Xero has found itself facing a challenge. Having grown to service virtually millions of customer internationally, the makers of Xero realised that helping small business owner to stay on top of their finances required an increased focus on effective internal communication.
With over three thousand staff across the world, the company quickly discovered that their internal communication system did not scale well enough to support their internal communication needs. The internal communication platform which they had been using up until this point was breaking down under the stress of having to service employee numbers it was not designed to support.
How Can Technology Be Used to Enhance Productivity?
Xero decided to migrate away from their ageing internal communications platform and chose an established industry leading solution – Slack. Migrating to Slack allowed the company to centralize crucial information, while increasing the efficiency of communication between its employees. With Slack’s instant messaging features and the ability to create specific workflow channels to improve internal communication, the company has set-up dedicated channels for its departments, creating an increase in both office productivity and the resultant customer satisfaction. The more productive your people are, the better they can complete their projects, leading to improved outcomes for their clients.
Improving Productivity with Technology #1 – Use Teleconferencing Software
Videoconferencing enables face to face communication without the need for face to face contact. This means less time spent travelling to meetings and more time actioning matters raised during those meetings. Teleconferencing additionally gives the participants the option to record their meetings, completely removing the need for minute taking.
Improving Productivity with Technology #2 – Take Advantage of Time Tracking Software
Long over are the days of paper time sheets. Accurate tracking of employee time may be a key concern for your business especially at this time, when there is a massive push towards remote and working from home arrangements. Time tracking software allows you to oversee the work of your staff, decreasing the likelihood of time theft. They ways in which this can be achieved extend, but are not limited to logging keystrokes, keystroke frequency or activity and randomly taking screenshots. There are a number of platforms available to provide the kind of logging functionality you have come to expect from timesheets too.
Improving Productivity with Technology #3 – Upgrade Your Hardware
Just because it works, does not mean its adequate. Outdated, almost ancient computers can be found in many an office. At a glance, they appear to be perfectly functional, that is until they are given a modern task to complete. If your employees are constantly waiting for their workstations to catch up to them all the time, they are experiencing unnecessary down time during which they are not productive. Consider upgrading your hardware to give your staff the tools they need to work efficiently. One of the cost effective upgrades is ensuring that your workstations are equipped with solid state drives. You can find out more about HDD vs SSD in our blog archives.
Improving Productivity with Technology #4 – Consider Using ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning Software)
Enterprise resource planning platforms can significantly simplify your management of a wide range of business processes from project management, accounting and bookkeeping to supply chain management. ERP consolidates all the information you various teams and departments might need in on one, central platform. This can greatly speed up the workflows of your staff, saving them time they would otherwise have to spending wading through dozens upon dozens of spreadsheets. Additionally, enterprise resource planning software can greatly streamline your overall document management processes, increasing intra-departmental transparency and improving communication across your business or organization in general.
Improving Productivity with Technology #5 – Replace Manual File Sharing with a Centralised Cloud Storage
Rather than manually sharing files in multiple copies and losing track of which version includes the latest changes and revisions (and who has that latest version), consider migrating your documents to the cloud. Files shared in cloud storage can be accessed by anyone at any time as well as edited and collaborated on by multiple users at the same time, in real time. This eliminates virtually all of the problems associated with manual file sharing.
At Connected Platforms we provide a range of these and other cloud business solutions for small to medium-sized businesses and more.
Find Out How Can Technology be Used to Enhance Productivity in Your Business or Organisation
Technology, efficiency and productivity go hand in hand and the reliance on digital solutions for business who wish to stay ahead of the curve will only increase in the future.
Don’t get left behind, get help with ‘solving’ the technology in your business. Get started by requesting a FREE IT health check to find out how well your business or organisation is to face the moder technology challenges. If you’re not sure if any of the technologies above are right for you, reach out and ask us about or range of medium and small business IT solutions. Give us a call on (07) 3062 6932 now to get started today.
Original article published by The Technology Press.
