Tech is everywhere, and every time you turn around there seems to be a new app or gizmo that makes your life simpler. Everything seems to promise to enhance your productivity. We all want that – to just get more done!
But do productivity tools live up to their namesake and actually make you more productive?
You might be surprised at the answer. Basically, they can make you more productive but unless you have them integrated into your business and ensure everyone knows how to use them, then work probably takes longer than it should.
As a business owner that is your red flag, because it means your company isn’t running efficiently and you know that it’s costing you money. It goes even deeper though. It probably is frustrating your employees too, leaving them on the unhappier side of things with their job satisfaction, feeling unsupported, and coming up with their own workarounds (which might even utilize Shadow IT – which can be a security risk).
How does this happen?
One major impact is a lack of training. We’ve seen tools implemented with literally no training – everybody is just thrown into the pool to learn to swim.
More often than that is inconsistent training. Some people or departments get more attention, leaving others on their own. Others need more hand holding to get going – which is okay, everybody learns at their own pace. That lack of consistency ensuring everybody is on the same page with the tool usage means that everybody uses the tool differently.
Many times, the app isn’t actually integrated with your other tech. This causes employees to have to switch back and forth to get tasks done, causing more work in the end. Perhaps they even give up on the new productivity tool because it just isn’t working for them.
How do you choose productivity tools properly?
Introducing new tech into your business is a big step. It’s one of the reasons why some businesses avoid it, because who needs more work and headaches to deal with? Some of that avoidance is due to a lack of information, giving the knowledge on which tools to choose out of the sea of available options. It doesn’t help that all the tools claim the same things, but they all work differently and offer different benefits over each other.
What’s needed is an IT advisor. If you have a good IT partner, they will be able to help narrow the choices down to what fits your business and gives you a competitive advantage.
This landscape is always changing, from automation to AI. The right IT partner will help you identify the most suitable tools for your business. They’ll also have a scope of view of how it integrates with your existing tech, and how that landscape might change. Plus, they will be available for answers and support to ensure all of your employees are up to speed with its usage.
The end result is what you hoped for; engaged and skilled employees getting stuff done – a true productivity boost with your new productivity tools.
We help our clients all the time with making decisions like these and implementing them. Reach out and book a 15 min meeting if you’re interested in what we can do for you.