With the stiff competition in the market, businesses have to continuously look for ways to increase efficiency and productivity. This comes as the economy is starting to recover after more than a year since the pandemic started.
Increasing efficiency and productivity allows businesses to remain profitable and stay open. To do this, businesses should not limit themselves to motivating employees, but they should also look to using technology to achieve better efficiency and productivity.
Simplify Daily Tasks
One thing that businesses can do is to simplify daily tasks at the workplace using technology. These simple tasks can take only a few minutes to perform. But adding them up over a week or a month will show that they will take up a considerable amount of time to accomplish. Due to this, businesses should find ways to simplify them and reduce the amount of wasted time performing them.
For instance, businesses that share password-protected files and systems can provide access to employees using password management tools. Using these tools allows the employees to access the files and systems without knowing the password. With this, the employees do not need to ask the person maintaining the files for the information they need for their work.
Facilitate Project Management
Business owners have to monitor different areas in the business to ensure things are done according to the procedures they developed. It also allows them to make the necessary improvements to increase the productivity and efficiency of their employees. If they cannot monitor and evaluate these areas, the business may not move forward and increase its profitability.
They can evaluate the performance of each area in the business by using the ServiceNow PPM or Project Portfolio Management System. The system allows business owners to have full visibility of all projects the business is handling, which will allow them to make the necessary adjustments to improve efficiency.
Encourage Collaboration
Collaboration is a good way for a business to find ways to improve productivity and efficiency. Brainstorming normally results in new inputs that the business owner can consider to help employees improve. It also allows the business to come up with solutions to issues it is facing.
To facilitate collaboration among employees, business owners can look into using collaborative technology to facilitate the discussion of ideas among employees. The technology also allows employees with work-from-home arrangements to participate in these discussions even if they do not go to the office.
Business owners have several options when it comes to collaborative tools. Many of these options are free, while others offer more features if business owners get the paid version of the tools. Some tools available for them are Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype.
Use Group Messaging Apps
There are instances when virtual meetings are unnecessary since they can affect productivity. But in some instances, emails may not be practical since immediate responses are necessary to allow employees to continue their work. So, these employees should use group messaging apps.
These apps allow employees to communicate while they are working. It also reduces the need to email back and forth, which can become inconvenient if the email thread becomes too long. These apps also eliminate the classic excuse of missing the email, which can affect productivity and even the working relationship of the employees. Additionally, employees can access many of these apps through a PC or a mobile phone.
Provide Suitable Training
A well-trained employee offers more for the business compared to an employee who has learned the ropes along the way. So, business owners should make sure they train all their employees once they join the business. This is particularly important if the business uses technologies that are not used in the industry. The business should also inform these employees about the policies and work methods used in the business.
But training is not only limited to new employees since businesses should provide training if they start using new tools in their operations. Similarly, these businesses should also provide training if they implement adjustments to their workflow.
And the best time to provide training is around a week before the business makes the adjustments. This allows the employees to prepare for these changes and ensure they remain productive and efficient with the implementation of the new workflow.
Business owners should continue monitoring these changes or adjustments to ensure the employees perform well in their tasks. It is understandable if the productivity will go down in the first few weeks since the employees are still adjusting to these changes. Using technology to enhance productivity and efficiency allows businesses to stay afloat and increase profitability even if the pandemic is not yet over.
