What makes the difference between a business that’s just coasting along and one that’s taking off? One factor is productivity. If your employees are skilled at turning their efforts into something that creates revenue, that’s great for your business. The question is: do your employees understand how important productivity is for business success? Let’s take a look at how businesses can boost productivity and the technology that can remove barriers to achieving it.
A high-functioning business is like a machine with a lot of well-oiled moving parts. These days, many organizations are forced to achieve more output, but with reduced resources. For many companies, running costs have gone up and profit margins and revenue have gone down. A shortage of capital causes people to cut corners.
Technology is one of those areas where cost-cutting can occur. This can be a false economy, because technology, and solutions such as automation, can be a great productivity booster. It’s a balance between spending on technology and reaping the benefits it can offer. Here are three robust software solutions that you should consider.
1. Customer Relations Management
You might think that multi-tasking is a great ability that will facilitate greater productivity. There’s no doubt that multi-tasking skills can be useful, but research suggests that it doesn’t actually boost productivity. In fact, concentrating on a single task is linked to higher productivity.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can give you the best of both worlds. It depends on built-in automation, so that users aren’t constantly shifting attention from one task to another. Instead, the CRM solution will create a profile for each task. It allows users to focus on one thing at a time, yielding results that are associated with expert multitasking.
2. Cloud-based VoIP and Messaging
Traditional telephony has been significantly challenged with the arrival of hosted telephone systems. It’s not just for business – these days home phones also often work by means of the VoIP system associated with their cable modem. For businesses, VoIP systems offer a variety of valuable communications tools. As well as simple phone calling, they offer options for both desk and smartphone use, as well as conferencing and instant messaging features, and can significantly facilitate communications between your employees.
A cloud-hosted email system can be another valuable addition to your existing communications. It features fast syncing and may include integrated messaging, alongside other tools that can promote productivity. The products offered by most enterprise-grade email providers can be used as part of a cloud-based system, so you have flexibility to select the one that works best for you.
3. Managing Mobile Devices
Most of us today rely on our smartphones, for personal use and often for work purposes as well. Phones used for personal calls at work can be a major distraction and a drag on productivity. It’s not easy for businesses just to issue a blanket ban on smartphone use at work and it’s not conducive to a happy workplace. What some organizations have done is to allow employees short breaks so that they can make necessary calls and check messages and social media. It’s a difficult problem to solve, but one solution is BYOD.
One of the reasons why people use their smartphones at work is because using Wi=Fi is a whole lot more economical than using their data allowance. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is something many businesses have adopted, along with a well-designed BYOD policy. That will include clear parameters about the use of smartphones, backed up by a mobile device management (MDM) tool. This means that excessive smartphone use can be flagged up, without the need for banning the use of phones in the workplace. Another bonus of this strategy is that you can ensure that use of the office Wi-Fi by staff using their personal phones doesn’t present any security threats.
You need to think about productivity because it’s directly correlated with your revenue. Technology can help. If you’d like to know more about the solutions we’ve discussed here or other technologies, such as automation, that can help boost productivity, give Quikteks a call at (973) 882-4644.