How do your clients use your IT for work productivity?

Tech can both help and hinder work productivity.The distractions of smartphones and other devices are real, but IT can also be utilised by your clients and employees to get the most out of their working day. Here are ways to do just that.

Keep tech up to date

There’s nothing that slows productivity more than old or malfunctioning IT and tech. It’s infuriating for everyone. Ensure that you upgrade where necessary and in good time to prevent frustration and bottlenecks. This includes all your internet connections and hardware as well as applications and software.

Use the right IT for each client

Each business is different, so it’s essential that IT is tailored to fit the specific business processes, culture and the way work is set up. There’s no point in shoehorning a client into using applications which won’t work for them. But it’s also important to encourage clients to try things that might help their productivity in the long run, even if it hadn’t occurred to them to do so. They may end up reverting to tried-and-tested options, but at least you can encourage them to go for the most up-to-date versions, which will increase efficiency.

Automate and therefore scale up

If you can automate and systemise most or all your daily workflow and business processes for both your clients and your employees, the scalability of your business will be greatly improved. Computers are often quicker and more accurate than humans, and often more consistent. Not all tasks work as well when automated, however, so analysing what is worth trying out is important too. Which is where the next comes in.

Which tools should you use?

• Group chats. These can improve the efficiency of your communications, whether your clients and employees work near or far. If something is urgent, it can be dealt with immediately, as opposed to having to wait for a reply to an email. Teams will even allow you to create tasks out of messages. Messaging applications such as Teams or Slack can be accessed at home, work, or on the move on mobile devices, leaving less room for missed communications.

• Collaboration tech. Using video technology, collaboration documents and note-taking tech can foster productivity and enable your clients and employees to feel part of the team, and to share ideas more easily. Video conferencing means that you can hold virtual meetings, even when clients or employees are on the move. This means less wasted time spent travelling to and from meetings.

• Calendar and scheduling applications. These are vital to linking employees and ensuring that everyone is on the same page. Proper time management is essential to any business.

• Time tracking. You can take time management one step further and employ a time-tracking tool such as Time Doctor to keep tabs on the progress of remote employees. It encourages people to be more aware of the time they spend on certain tasks, and enables you or your client to take a broader view, and therefore improve efficiency.

• Goal tracking. Similarly, you can use goal-tracking apps to help clients/employees stay focused on their goals. The results can then be extrapolated into charts and reminders set to encourage people to keep them in mind when they work.