Being productive is definitely one of the biggest assets that contribute to the overall health of any business out there. At the same time, since productivity can be quite an elusive concept, boosting it is not the easiest task. Being armoured with proper resources and tools can definitely help your team, though. If you’re actually wondering how to be productive in 2020, then here’s a little something to get you started.
What is productivity and how can you improve it?
Reading all the definitions of productivity is likely to give you a headache. The classic one, however, describes it as “a way to measure efficiency”. Sounds vague? Well, at least at this particular moment, it’s important to remember that the key to improving productivity is to accomplish more with the same amount of resources. These resources might vary, but one thing stays the same: making the most of them.
To help you become more productive in the long run, we’ve gathered a few tips & tools to make the whole process easier. Here they come.
#1 Sharing is caring
If you work in a team, you probably know the importance of communication by now. What’s equally important as a seamless flow of information, is definitely a transparent work environment. By ensuring both of them, you can easily boost the productivity of the whole team. How come?
By taking care of internal communication and giving the opportunity to share relevant details with one another, you basically eliminate the chances of your team members doing the same tasks, or performing them with insufficient information.
In this case, however, using project management & communication tools is going to be necessary in order to facilitate collaboration within your team. Otherwise, exchanging any important details “in person” would be challenging, and definitely time-consuming.
Useful project management & communication tools:
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#2 Less is more
Nowadays, you have a lot of software at your disposal. These tools are likely to boost your productivity – however, using many tools, devices, and storage spaces can also cause major chaos. At the same time, there’s no “one tool fits all” solution, so using multiple tools is simply necessary. There’s nothing wrong with that – but what can actually improve your workflow is to pick the available solutions wisely, and integrate the systems whenever possible.
In fact, tool integration can work wonders for your productivity. For starters, it saves you a lot of time and effort since there’s no need to switch between the systems anymore. Instead, you’re simply leveraging all the benefits of your software while keeping everything in one place. You probably store some data in various tools already – then why not try to have them all integrated?
Useful tools with lots of features and/or integrations available:
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#3 Easy does it
Here’s the thing: in order to become (and stay) productive, you can’t overcomplicate things. If there are any opportunities to streamline your tasks or even the whole processes, you should take advantage of them.
Take dull assignments and unproductive meetings, as an example. There’s no need to waste time on them – instead, make sure there’s a clear purpose and plan behind any meeting and task you’re involved in. Yet again: there are tools for that.
Useful tools to schedule your appointments with:
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#4 Be conversion-friendly
What actually boosts productivity is making the most of your resources, right? Then take care of one powerful resource your business already has in place: your website. Bringing in new high-quality leads, for example, can affect the productivity of your team in the long run, which should be a good enough reason to give your site a little makeover (if it needs one, that is).
Don’t be afraid to experiment. There are plenty of tools that can help you increase conversions, generate new leads, and essentially give your team a little something to work with at all times. The key to finding the ones that suit your business best is to test them out thoroughly.
Useful tools to experiment with:
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#5 Stop and listen
Whenever you implement new tools & techniques to improve productivity, you have to have your team on board. Otherwise, these tools simply won’t help much if no one’s willing to use them. What’s also crucial is to eliminate potential obstacles that might affect productivity, though.
Basically, if possible, you should enable all your team members to report and solve problems whenever they arise. There might be plenty of things that your team finds annoying, and piling them up increases frustration rather than productivity. Once you do, though, don’t forget to actually listen to those remarks, and taking the feedback in. In many cases, hearing your team out will be enough – but be prepared to take action nonetheless.
Useful tools to identify & solve problems within your team:
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Use the right tools to make your team more productive in 2020
As you can see, the right tools can easily empower your team and boost their productivity in the long run. The key is to find the right ones that suit your needs best – even though some of them might be associated with substantial costs. You should always consider them as an investment, though. Especially since you’re bound to see an increase in productivity in no time!