The success of every business hinges on its productivity. By working efficiently and producing high-quality work, your team can enjoy collaborating on projects and keep your clients happy. And fortunately, there are more tools than ever before to help you shine on every due date.
There is software designed specifically for team collaboration and communication to help your team keep all your projects and tasks organized. For example, note-taking tools ensure no thoughts go wasted, and coaching software enables you to improve your communication skills in real-time during virtual meetings.
And that’s just the beginning. Let’s talk more about how increased productivity can benefit your team and the tools that can help you reach your goals:
Why Productivity Is Essential for Your Team
A productive team is able to achieve more tasks while saving time and preventing employee burnout in the process. Time management and productivity are the keys to getting things done and getting them done well.
Get More Done in Less Time
Productivity is closely linked to efficiency. And your team’s efficiency relies on its current work style and strategy. Generally speaking, it’s ideal to prioritize each task and project by urgency and importance. Then, you must determine which tasks to delegate to specific team members.
Minimizing distractions in the workplace is another key factor in boosting efficiency. And when a large portion of your workforce is remote, much of this comes down to trusting your team members to stay focused and submit quality work on time. But you must ensure they have all the task management tools necessary to make that happen.
Avoid Burnout by Improving Workflow
Nothing can stifle productivity like burnout. In fact, becoming overwhelmed and reaching your wit’s end will kill productivity.
Improving your workflow can keep that hassle from happening. Ensuring your team has a reliable system for getting tasks and projects (instead of lulls of boredom and clusters of notifications) can help them predict what’s to come and plan accordingly.
Thus, they can allocate the necessary time and energy for turning in quality work and maintain a healthy work-life balance. And that will go a long way in preventing burnout from plaguing your team. Today, many tools on the market can help you keep a consistent workflow while saving your managers time and stress.
How Apps Can Increase Your Team’s Productivity
The best remote teams (and in-office teams, for that matter) use multiple apps in their day-to-day operations.
Simply put, apps can be a game-changer for productivity, and here’s why:
Apps Can Help Your Team Track Their Work
It’s hard enough for a single employee to manage their own workload. But when you have several team members collaborating on multiple projects, it can quickly become overwhelming. Without a proper system in place, it’s impossible to keep track of all the small tasks and overall progress of your projects.
A project management app puts all of your team's tasks and projects into one place. With minimal training, your employees and administrators will know how to quickly find the information they need and submit their work. A good project management tool will also sync seamlessly with other apps to further improve workflow and collaboration.
Apps Can Make Communication More Effective
Email is still a powerful tool for many needs. But today’s workforce demands different features and capabilities from communication technology. Team chat apps help teams communicate more effectively and efficiently through chat, video calls, audio calls, and more. They also allow employees to share documents, images, links, files, and other media within a single platform.
Some apps are designed for small teams, while others work ideally for larger organizations that need to divide into multiple subgroups. No matter the size or functions of your team, chances are you can find a communication app that meets your needs.
Apps Can Minimize Busy Work
Suppose we neglect to take advantage of the technology available. In that case, we can waste much of our precious work hours on administrative tasks that could otherwise be eliminated (or at least minimized).
There are tools to help you manage your time, tasks, projects, schedules, meetings, and more. You no longer need to spend time manually organizing workflow or other critical operations.
In fact, AI-powered tools can automate many tasks, such as:
- Scheduling appointments
- Managing requests
- Compiling reports
- Sending reminders
- Replying to messages
Using apps is an excellent way to focus your valuable time on the work that carries the most weight.
The Best Productivity Apps for Your Team
So, you’re convinced to invest in productivity apps for your team.
Let’s talk about some of the top products on the market:
Slack
Slack is one of the most popular communication platforms in the world. It’s designed primarily for distributed teams and offers plenty of features to help remote workers stay connected and productive.
The app centers on team messaging and allows you to share various media types. You can use Slack on Microsoft and Mac computers as well as Windows, macOS, and Linux devices. If your goal is to streamline team communications, this app (and its mobile app or browser extension version) is hard to beat.
With emoji and GIF sharing abilities, Slack evokes the levity of social media while maintaining a professional aura.
Poised
In a business landscape that increasingly depends on virtual meetings, it’s essential to improve and maintain effective communication skills, whether you’re a leader or an employee.
While many communication tools are designed to benefit workplace communication, Poised is particularly helpful to professionals looking to hone their virtual etiquette and communicate more clearly and concisely.
With real-time performance tracking, corrections, and tips, Poised intuitive coaching software can help any team take their communication and productivity to the next level. Poised works beautifully with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and more.
Pomodoro Timers
As one of the most popular productivity systems, the Pomodoro Technique helps professionals and business owners maximize productivity by breaking tasks into 25-minute segments. It’s a simple time tracker process that has proven to benefit countless people.
All you do is work for 25 minutes, take a five-minute break, and repeat the process three times. After four total repetitions, you break for 15 – 30 minutes to complete a Pomodoro cycle.
The easiest way to implement this technique is to use an app that you can set and forget. Track, Forest, Marinara Timer, and Pomodoro are among the most popular options for time tracking automation.
More Structure and Routine (A Pro and a Con)
We all know what it’s like to navigate a disorganized workday. At best, it feels like trudging through mud. But most of the time, it’s utter chaos.
Gone are the days when you must write out all your tasks on a paper calendar or to-do list (though you can still do that if it’s your thing). Modern organization apps and software like Friday, Todoist, Trello, and Any.do are excellent for arranging your workdays to maximize productivity and ensure you have time left over for your personal life.
Note-Taking Apps (Evernote, Google Keep)
Effective note-taking can help you maintain concentration, interact with others, and remember information that otherwise may be lost forever. And if you think nothing is simpler than jotting down an idea on a piece of paper, you likely haven’t tried a note-taking app.
Using apps to keep track of vital notes can reduce the risk of losing the information over time, making it easier to share with remote team members. Evernote and Google Keep are two of the most comprehensive and easy-to-use products dedicated to note-taking. However, many project management and file-sharing apps provide spaces for notes.
Notion
Notion is one of the most versatile productivity apps on the market. Touted as an all-in-one workspace, it allows teams of all sizes to collaborate, stay organized, and complete projects. You can plan, write, edit, take notes, manage tasks, and much more.
Notion offers powerful databases and is fully customizable (it even lets you create a personal wiki). It also happens to be exceptionally easy to use. Freelancers, micro-teams, small businesses, and corporations alike love the clean layout and myriad features.
It combines the power of spreadsheets with the satisfaction of checklists. You can also input calendar apps right in your Notion to keep your day organized.
Some people run their business entirely from the app. You can use it on any platform, including Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows.
Teaching Your Team Better Communication With Poised
Poised is one of the best tools to use for improving individual or team communication.
Here is why that’s a big deal:
Strong Communication = A More Productive Team
The stronger communicators you have on your team, the more productive they will work together. Effective collaboration revolves around clear, powerful, and consistent communication among team members. Coaching software like Poised will help each employee reach their full potential and ultimately move your company in the right direction.
Shortcuts to Success
You don’t have to keep struggling to keep your team productive. Taking advantage of the many productivity tools on the market today can boost your communication, organization, efficiency, collaboration, and so much more.
What’s more, everyone in your company will reap the benefits — from the CEO to the new hire. Get ready to save time and produce your highest quality work yet!
Sources:
Job Burnout: How To Spot It and Take Action | Mayo Clinic
