The increased adaptation of remote and hybrid work setups has placed heightened emphasis on employee productivity.
Following the Zoom craze of the 2020s, organizations have been quick to embrace a suite of productivity tools to help bridge the physical gap between employees and teams. But how much tech is too much tech? And are the tools you’re using contributing to the business’s bottom line?
This article looks to help you choose the right tech tools for improved workplace productivity by bringing to mind key considerations and other things you need to be mindful of.
But what can you get when you use the right productivity tools? Let’s learn it here.
Key Benefits Of Using Productivity Tools
Productivity tools exist to help improve the quality and ease of doing work. But to avoid the case of adapting tools for the sake of having tools, take a closer look at some of their key attributes.
It Helps Lessens Administrative Work
It is particularly significant in admin duties like time-tracking employee work hours, generating reports, and providing real-time project updates. A study of 10,000 office workers from 11 countries found that 52% of millennial respondents said fewer administrative tasks would increase their productivity.
And it makes perfect sense. When you don’t need to worry about rudimentary yet tedious tasks, you can focus on your core responsibilities.
Centralized Data Access
Having data stored in cloud-based services have become integral to businesses – whether it’s a company offering the best IT services in Baton Rouge or an e-commerce operation in Singapore. It just makes it easier for employees across different teams to find what they need when they need to. When everything is on a central platform, it also removes the hassle of asking for things like documents or reports. It allows for increased focus and a more efficient way of doing things.
Easier Communication And Collaboration
There’s a reason why tools like Slack and Teams have enjoyed widespread adaptation. They make communicating with co-workers that much easier despite the distance. You can be an operations manager based in Melbourne or an agent for team IT support St. Louis boasts. Regardless of the remote location, communication and collaboration should be seamless. It ultimately results in improved productivity.
Improves Efficiency And Streamlines Processes
When it comes to streamlining processes, automation has been a significant driver. Whether it’s sending out a segmented email blast or scheduling social posts for different platforms, automating processes whenever possible leads to more efficient use of time and resources.
Tips For Choosing Workplace Productivity Tools
So, to enjoy the benefits, you must choose the right tech tools to boost workplace productivity.
With a wealth of options in productivity tools, it can be easy to focus on what an app can do while overlooking the end-user experience.
It may do its job well, but if your employees are unanimously unhappy, it defeats the purpose of using tools to improve your work processes.
Below are a few more things to consider when choosing your digital tools.
Work With Employees
When you’re auditing internal processes, it’s best if you involve your employees. Upper management may have a perspective of what can help the organization achieve its goals, but it’s the employees who do the legwork. As such, you must consider their feedback concerning the tools you’re going to adapt.
It would give you valuable information on whether it can significantly enhance the process and not just over-complicate them.
Involving employees would also give you a first-hand perspective on which administrative tasks can be automated or aided by digital tools.
Then, when you start prospecting tools, you can get immediate feedback on the user experience and the required learning curve.
Identify Gaps And Areas That Need Improvement
In line with the above, getting employee feedback is vital to identifying gaps and areas of improvement in your processes.
When you listen to their pain points, such as juggling multiple platforms to perform specific tasks, you can see where simple tools can help.
But here, management insight is also critical. There may be instances where employees are too close to what they’re doing.
When this happens, they may be unable to see how particular digital enhancements can benefit them and the work they do. Management can look at the operations from a macro perspective and point out areas that can be more efficient.
Find Redundant Tools Currently In Use
There are also instances when you need fewer tools. It might be having a Slack channel for a specific project, a Google Sheet to update progress, and a Trello board as a more visual guide.
Hopping from one tool to another breeds inefficiency, no matter how well the tools perform individually.
In all likelihood, the real issue is the lack of integration. For example, you might need documentary management systems like SharePoint to help your employees get the most out of Microsoft Office Suite. Take a look at your suite of tools and see if there are any overlaps or areas for integration you might be able to leverage.
Consider End Users
Whether you decide to add to the toolbox or improve integration, it’s best to consider the end users – your employees. They need to believe in the tools they’re using. Otherwise, it could propagate contempt for what they might perceive as just another friction point.
It’s also best if your suite can work across different teams with different tasks and objectives. For example, while the dev team may have specialized tools for programming, they should be able to collaborate with the design and publishing teams.
Takeaway
When choosing tech tools for workplace productivity, employees should always be central to the decision-making process. The tools you choose need to be collaborative, easily integrated, and simple to use. It also needs to be something for the employees that fosters harmony among team members and different teams. That’s the kind of work culture that can birth efficient productivity.
