First published on Thursday, August 13, 2020
Last updated on Monday, July 17, 2017
Advancements in technology were meant to make our lives easier. While certain aspects of life have undoubtedly improved, when it comes to the world of work, we seem to be busier than ever.
Yes, we can now communicate instantly with anyone across the world. Yes, we’re able to do tasks in minutes rather than hours or even days. And yes, we have computers to do a lot of the thinking for us. Which all begs the question, why are we still so busy?
Streamlining tasks and automation are key to working smart, freeing up your time to concentrate on things that really matter. With that in mind, we give you 10 tech solutions to help you work smart.
Slack
Emails can be one of the biggest distractions in the modern workplace. Studies show it can take up to 23 minutes to refocus your attention after checking up on your latest messages. The worst culprit has to be internal emails, as the majority of these could be classed as spam. Yet many of us still religiously read and respond, taking valuable away time from more important jobs.
While you can’t get rid of emails altogether you can do something about internal emails with services such as Slack. With Slack, you can set up conversations between individuals, teams or even company wide. This means that conversations can be taken away from the email and there are no confusing, long-winded email chains to contend with.
Asana
Still using paper-based to-do lists? Why not bring yourself up to date with Asana? With this task management software, you can arrange tasks how you like them, set deadlines, filter by projects, assign subtasks to other people and set up multiple work boards. What’s even better is that it can be integrated with Instagantt, another useful project management tool, allowing your to-do list to be shown as a Gantt chart if that’s the way you like to work.
Google Drive
Google Drive is your one-stop shop for documents. Word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, it has them all. So what? You say. Well, unlike other packages, Google Drive is stored in the cloud so it can be accessed anywhere if you have an internet connection. It is collaborative too. That means multiple people can work in one document at the same time.
What’s more, with a Google login you can also access other useful products such as Analytics and calendars.
Papaly
If you think about the web pages you visit daily, you probably visit the same handful of sites repeatedly. With Papaly, you can pin these sites to a categorised work board, which automatically opens when you bring up a new browser tab. That means there’s no need to type in an address again. If you utilise tech such as Google Drive, you can link directly to your most used documents, so there’s no need to rummage around in folders to find that all important document.
Post-it Plus
Here at BrightHR, we love planning things on Post-Its and most of our office walls are covered in the colourful sticky squares. The problem comes when you have to document your thoughts. You could write everything out again or you could download the Post-Its official app - Post-It Plus. This allows you to take a picture of your work creation and the software will automatically identify the Post-it notes, bringing them into an easily accessible board that can be shared in seconds.
MailChimp
Marketing automation technology, such as Marketo and Eloqua, can be extremely costly. For majority of small businesses, it’s way out of their budget. When it comes to marketing automation for the small business, you need to look no further than MailChimp.
MailChimp allows you to create emails and integrates with your data to send out personal and timely email communications automatically.
30/30
Do you feel like you never finish a task or do other distractions get in your way at work? Well, why not try 30/30, a task management app that allows you to set tasks to a timeslot. These time constraints not only help you focus your mind on that particular task, but also mean you’re less likely to entertain any distractions that may come your way.
WeTransfer/Dropbox
We’ve already discussed the misuse and overuse of emails, but another problem comes in the form of attachments, particularly large files. We’ve all had the problem of trying to send that large file only be told it’s too big. That’s where services such as WeTransfer and Dropbox come in. They allow you to store larger files and send them onto contacts quickly and easily.
Yes, we know everyone knows about Facebook. But for a small business, it’s a valuable tool to promote your product or service. Not only because you can set up a company page, but Facebook’s advertising platform allows you to specifically target your customers, meaning you can get your product and message in front of your potential customers easily and at a much lower cost than more traditional means.
BrightHR
People management software takes the hassle out of traditional HR paper-based processes, freeing up your time to focus on growing your business. With our software, staff can book holiday leave via our app, managers can check any potential conflicts and approve requests in just a matter of clicks. It also makes the problem of scheduling a thing of the past as schedules can be created in minutes, rather than hours. All staff are alerted when they have been assigned to a shift and any changes can be made quickly and easily.
Not a BrightHR customer yet?
To learn more about how our software can help you manage your business and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, call us today: (1) 888-220-4924.
