The average American works about 8.8 hours a day. Do you know how many hours of that day get spent being productive?
Did you say eight? Six? Even four or five?
If so, you’d be sorely mistaken.
Within those 8 hours, only 2 hours and 53 minutes are productive! That means only 3 hours of an employees’ day are profitable and beneficial to the company. The other hours get spent perusing news sites, social media, making coffee, and more.
If you own a business, this thought is likely terrifying. How can you be sure your employees are engaging and working hard?
Productivity software is one way of managing that. It does anything from monitoring distracting websites to encouraging team collaboration. It can help employees create (and check off) to-do lists while staying focused.
Here are 5 important programs for your business to consider!
1. A List Tool
What better way to make sure important tasks don’t slip through the cracks?
Apps like Todoist offer ease and peace of mind. It organizes important jobs, accounts for things you’ve done, and offers reminders for big projects.
It also gives you tangible progress through its Karma Trend. This identifies the productivity you’ve had by awarding you points!
2. A Communication Tool
Communication tools are great for collaboration and questions. It supplements email for communication. This allows employees to cut back on time-killing email drafting and sifting.
One tool we love is Slack. Slack does anything but promote “slacking.” In fact, its headline boasts that Slack is “where work flows.”
You can divide your teams up into channels by position or project. Slack is searchable, leaving a wealth of information at your workers’ fingertips. And it promotes team engagement!
3. An Email Management Tool
With fewer emails (thanks, Slack!) comes less need for organization. But the need is still there for now. That’s where email management comes in.
With tools like FollowUp, important emails get directed right to the top of the page. This keeps important deadlines from getting missed or big clients from getting ignored.
It uses technology like “email open tracking,” which shows when people open your emails. Or queues, which allow you to write emails when you’re ready and send them later.
4. A Collaboration Tool
Collaboration tools like Asana help your team stay focused on managing important projects.
It tracks every stage of progress while offering fun and straightforward organization techniques. It also points out areas of risk so you can stay aware.
5. A Scheduling Tool
This is for those in charge of schedules. To make your schedule more efficient, and thus your workers, consider an online shift schedule maker.
For this, you can start simple (and free!) with one that’s likely already installed on your computer: Excel. Excel makes the process simple and basic. It also uses an excel formula to add your hours for you.
Less time scheduling, more time working!
Generating Success with Productivity Software
These programs get invented to help you stay on track. Not using them is equal to letting time and money fly out the window of your headquarters. Kiss that money goodbye!
Or, you could think about using productivity software instead. This will keep the money where it belongs: in the building, in the business, and with the employees.
We’ve got one more awesome software program to tell you about. (It saves you money, too.) Click here to see how SD-WAN technology is making a name for itself in 2019.
