SMEs Can Take Advantage of These 7 Tools to Increase Employee Productivity

Run your business more efficiently with help from these productivity apps.

Increasing employee productivity is always a challenge for businesses. From production, marketing, sales, to employee and customer relations, the everyday tasks of operating an enterprise may seem too many that a lot of employees find themselves overwhelmed.

It’s not just enough to work harder—working smarter is the key to tackling such workplace demands. Fortunately, there are a number of online tools, productivity apps, and platforms that can help you and your employees manage tasks. By making use of these, your team will be able to efficiently and effectively accomplish more work at a given time. Here’s how to improve employee productivity in the workplace:

Google Workspace (previously known as G Suite)

If paper forms are wreaking confusion on your files, then perhaps it’s time to go digital. Going paperless will not only save you and your employees time and effort; it would also lower administrative costs and make processes much faster since you can work on files together in real-time.

Google Workspace (previously known as G Suite) puts all the productivity and collaboration tools you need in one place. You and your team will have easy real-time access to work email, calendar, text and video chat, document creation, project websites, databases, and online storage that sync with your computer, phone, or tablet, in real-time.

Trello

It can be quite confusing when many tasks are going on simultaneously, and it can be a challenge to keep updated on all project details, responsibilities, and timelines.

Trello is an online bulletin board which gives a visual representation of a project’s workflow. You can add as many boards as you like, each of which can represent a task or a project, and correspondingly add as many contributors to each board. Contributors may then add comments, attachments, and other details to specific boards they are members of.

At a glance, you can see pending and upcoming tasks, allowing you to manage and organize accordingly. You can also link your Trello boards to applications which you’re already using like Slack, Google Calendar, and Google Drive.

By minimizing confusion, promoting delegation, and encouraging collaboration, employees get more done as a team and as individuals.

TMetric Time Tracker

Tracking productivity is also about tracking time. More than monitoring the quality and quantity of tasks accomplished, the employee must also be able to deliver at a given period. Too much time needed to finish a task reveals a flaw in the system, either in the employee capacity or in the work process.

TMetric Time Tracker allows you to track everything—from working hours and breaks to attendance and absences. Not only is this valuable in ensuring that your employee is compensated accurately, it also gives a graphic representation of how much time is spent on particular tasks. Using this information, you and your employee can then evaluate after a given period. If your employee, for example, is spending way too much time doing inventory, perhaps a review on how this task is done is in order.

TMetric Time Tracker not only empowers your employee, giving him even more control of his time; it also gives opportunities for the company to improve systems and processes.

Dropbox

The everyday operations of a retail enterprise require sharing files. Whether they’re photographs for the company website and social media accounts or a PowerPoint presentation for an upcoming sale event, tasks are accomplished faster when files and documents can be easily shared online.

Dropbox allows you and your team to access files in a centralized location—no more complaints about losing a file or misplacing a document because everybody else has a copy of it. Dropbox also makes it easier to work together on a specific document as you’re all on the same page (quite literally).

Slack

Seamless communication with everyone in your organization is an important factor if you want your operations to run like a well-oiled machine.

As a messaging application, Slack gives you and your employees a safe and secure place to communicate with one another. Apart from real-time messaging, it also has search, filter, sorting, and file sharing features. By giving you and your team a platform to exchange ideas and information in real-time, you will be able to run your retail operations smoothly.

Cloud Point of Sale (POS)

Doing billings and tracking inventory are challenging tasks, so employees in retail and foodservice industries will definitely welcome Cloud POS. A cloud-based business solution, it can monitor sales in real-time, track inventory with ease, print BIR-accredited receipts, and create loyalty programs.

By switching from a manual setup to a cloud-based format, you not only avoid pilferage and minimize paperwork; you also make accounting and tax-related tasks easier resulting in faster transactions.

The Cloud POS Bundle includes a 6th Gen iPad, 20 Mbps Unlimited Internet, and Complete POS Set with receipt printer, cash drawer and router.

ZOOM

Getting your employees together for daily huddles, important meetings, and trainings can be challenging when they’re stationed in different locations, work remotely, or travel for business.

Switching to video conferencing, online meetings, chat, and mobile communications make it easy to stay in touch and keep the business updated. Zoom can do all that and more, including recording sessions, collaborating on projects, and annotating and sharing other’ team members’ screens.

As you can see from the tools and productivity apps above, your Internet service is not just good for maintaining your website, updating your social media accounts, and managing your email. It can also offer ways to improve employee efficiency and help your business run more effectively, leading to better sales and revenues for your company.

HELPFUL PRODUCT INFORMATION

Trello has a free version that covers up to 10 team boards. Upgraded plans start at USD 9.99 per user per month.

Tmetric Time Tracker is free for teams of up to 5 people. Upgraded plans start at USD5.00 per user per month

Dropbox is free for the first 30 days. Plans start at USD12.50 per month for 3 users for 2TB.

Slack has a free version for small teams. Upgraded plans start at USD6.67 per active user per month.

Google Workspace (previously known as G Suite) gives your team access to Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, and Hangouts so you can work on important files online together in real-time. Until June 30, 2020, get free Google Workspace (previously known as G Suite) Admin and User Training with free eGCs! Learn more about it here.

ZOOM is a web and app-based remote conferencing service. Use it for free for 100 or less participants, 1 to 1 meetings, and 40 mins. group meetings or go pro starting at USD14.99/month to unlock more features. Find out how here.

Cloud POS packages start at P7,199 per month inclusive of a Globe myBusiness Broadband subscription. Know more about Cloud POS here.

Get the right internet for your business with Globe myBusiness Unli Internet 1899. Get 1 month free for new subscribers. Click here to know more.

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